Australian escapes Vietnam death row
An Australian woman of Vietnamese descent, sentenced to death for trying to smuggle heroin to Sydney, has been granted clemency and sentenced to life in prison, the Vietnamese government said on Thursday.
Le My Linh, 44, was convicted and sentenced to die by firing squad in a case that raised diplomatic tensions with Canberra, which opposes the death penalty.
After a Ho Chi Minh City court rejected her appeal she appealed to Vietnam's president.
President Tran Duc Luong's clemency decision was based on the "humanitarian tradition of Vietnam and the good relations between Vietnam and Australia", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
ABC Radio Australia - July 17, 2003.
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