Disabled Aussie facing death penalty in China over drugs smuggling

An intellectually disabled Australian man could face the death penalty after reportedly being charged with smuggling drugs in China.

Lawyers for Ibrahim Jalloh, 26, claim he was tricked into smuggling more than two kilograms of ice out of Guangzhou last June by an international syndicate who took advantage of his disability, Fairfax Media reports.

But Chinese prosecutors presented a medical appraisal showing the Brisbane man was only slightly developmentally delayed and therefore capable of bearing criminal liability, meaning he could be executed if found guilty, during a hearing on Friday.