China Executes French Citizen Convicted of Drug Trafficking
By TUW
China has executed a French national who was sentenced to death in 2010 for drug trafficking, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.
The man, identified as 62-year-old Chan Thao Phoumy, was put to death on April 4, 2026, in Guangzhou, southern China. He had been arrested in 2005 and later convicted for manufacturing, transporting, and trafficking methamphetamine. His sentence was initially life imprisonment but was changed to the death penalty by a Chinese court in 2010.
French authorities expressed deep concern over the execution, stating that efforts to seek clemency on humanitarian grounds had been unsuccessful. Officials also noted that Phoumy’s defense may not have been allowed access to the final court proceedings, raising questions about the fairness of the process.
Paris reaffirmed its opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and called for its global abolition.
