A Hamas military court in Gaza has convicted four drug dealers and sentenced them to death, according to
this Al Jazeera account. Excerpt:
Last year, Hamas politicians passed a law deeming drug dealing to be a national security threat, which opened the door for trying drug traffickers before military courts. Nasser Suliman, the head of Gaza's military judiciary, said there were at least 30 cases of drug dealing before his courts.
The two who received death sentences in March were government security officers "who were not deterred from previous lighter punishments and returned to the trade", Suliman told Al Jazeera.
Under military law, penalties against dealers are usually stricter than those granted by the civil code, Suliman said. Penalties are also lighter for users, as compared with dealers: "If an addict resorts to treatment, he is spared from punishment."
Why try drug cases in a military court?
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