Serious Polluters In China To Face Death Penalty

Since China underwent rapid industrialisation the problem of containing pollution has been a growing issue for the Chinese government. According to a report by Inhabitat the Chinese government have just got serious on environmental pollution and under a new judicial interpretation Chinese courts could offer up much harsher penalties for environmental crimes. In fact for the most serious environmental offences the Chinese courts could hand out death penalties.

The reasons are relatively clear, some industries generate so much chemical, water and air pollution that they jeopardise public health and even indirectly cause deaths by contaminating water supplies and so forth. China proclaimed this new judicial document with the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

Apparently dumping radioactive substances into sources of drinking water and nature reservers along with incidents that poison more than 30 people or force the evacuation of more than 5000, will be considered an environmental pollution crime for the first time. There are 14 new environmental crimes under the new interpretation.

Is the death penalty one step too far or is it a good thing China is now taking the environment more seriously?

Image courtesy of Inhabitat.com