I had no choice, says courier facing death

AN AUSTRALIAN sentenced to death in Vietnam this week for heroin trafficking told officials she was forced into the crime to pay off her husband's gambling debts.

It is understood that 34-year-old Jasmine Luong will include the claim in her application for clemency, which must be handed to the Vietnamese President, Nguyen Minh Triet, by the middle of next week.

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, are expected to write to the President in support of Luong, whose two children are being looked after by relatives in Sydney.

Luong, an Australian of Vietnamese descent, was arrested at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, outside Ho Chi Minh City, in February last year with 1.5 kilograms of heroin hidden in her shoes and luggage.

Luong told the court an unidentified man offered her $US15,000 ($16,620) to take the drugs to Sydney, with an advance payment of $US4700.

The Herald understands Luong has said her husband deserted her, leaving her with little choice when approached about being a drug courier.

Trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin is punishable by death or life imprisonment in Vietnam.

In December, a court found Luong guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced her to life in prison. However, the sentence was upgraded to the death penalty at a hearing earlier this week after prosecutors appealed against the ruling.

There is no set time frame for the President to decide whether he will grant clemency. It is expected Luong will probably have to wait at least a year for a decision.

Five Australians have been sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Vietnam, but none has been executed. Four were granted clemency and another, Tony Manh, is waiting for a response to his application.

Manh was sentenced to death by firing squad in September last year for trying to smuggle almost one kilogram of heroin in his underwear, a haul that would have earned him about $US10,000. Like Luong, he was caught at Tan Son Nhat airport, about seven kilometres outside Ho Chi Minh City, before he boarded a plane to Sydney.

His appeal against the ruling was rejected in late November.

Within days of Labor taking office last year both Mr Rudd and Mr Smith wrote to Mr Triet on Manh's behalf. They are expected to do the same in the case of Luong.

The Vietnamese Government has cited humanitarian considerations and its close relationship with Australia when granting clemency in the past.

Twenty Australians are currently in jail in Vietnam, all on charges related to drug trafficking. Most have been sentenced but some are awaiting trial.

Vietnam takes drug crimes very seriously. Its proximity to the Golden Triangle, an important heroin-producing region, has made it an important drug transit point to Western countries.

In 2000, a Canadian citizen, Nguyen Thi Hiep, who was caught with five kilograms of heroin in 1996, was executed by firing squad, prompting Canada to suspend ministerial-level contact with Vietnam. Since then, no foreign national from a Western country has been executed.

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Australian woman to face firing squad in Vietnam
An Australian woman of Vietnamese origin has lost her court appeal and will face a firing squad in Vietnam instead of serving a life term in prison, state-run newspapers reported.