Australian woman asks Vietnam to lift death sentence
An Australian national sentenced to death in
Vietnam for drug trafficking has asked for
presidential clemency after a court upheld her
sentence last month, the Government says.
Le My Linh, 43, was sentenced to death on August 28
after being arrested at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat
airport in November 2001 while trying to fly to
Australia.
The Sydney woman was convicted of possessing 888
grams of heroin and 209 grams of the anti-anxiety drug
diazepam. Her appeal against the death sentence was
rejected on December 23.
"Le My Linh has lodged an appeal for clemency to
President Tran Duc Luong after an appeal court
approved the original sentence handed out," said foreign
ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh.
She was unable to say when a decision would be
announced.
Linh's death sentence triggered an outcry in Australia
and prompted Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to
send a letter to his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Dy
Nien expressing his deep opposition to capital
punishment.
Vietnam has tough drug laws. Anyone found in
possession of 300 grams or more of heroin, or more
than 10 kilograms of opium, faces the death penalty.
At least eight other Australian nationals of Vietnamese
origin are in detention in Vietnam on drug charges,
according to Australian consular officials.
Australian drug enforcement officials have privately
expressed concern about the growing involvement of
Sydney-based Vietnamese gangs in trafficking drugs to
Australia from Vietnam.
ABC News / Radio Australia - January 10, 2003.
|