A Frenchman convicted of drug trafficking has been executed in China. Paris is “dismayed” – and renews its criticism of the death penalty.
Apr 5, 2026, 9:20 amApril 5, 2026, 9:21 a.m
A 62-year-old Frenchman was executed in southern China on Saturday, the French Foreign Ministry announced in the evening.
Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Image: keystone
The government in Paris reacted with “dismay” to the execution of the sentence. The death penalty was carried out “despite the mobilization of the French authorities, including efforts to obtain a clemency decision in favor of our compatriot on humanitarian grounds.”
Man is said to have manufactured large quantities of drugs
The man, who was born in Laos, was sentenced to death in 2010 for drug smuggling. A court had previously sentenced him to life imprisonment after his arrest in 2005.
Authorities accused him of being involved in the production of large quantities of synthetic drugs in China between 1999 and 2003.
The French Foreign Ministry reiterated its fundamental stance: France rejects the death penalty “everywhere and under all circumstances” and is committed to its worldwide abolition.
According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, “thousands of people are sentenced to death and executed” in China every year. The Chinese government does not publish official figures.
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