Court upholds Australian’s death sentence for drug trafficking
An appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City on April 17 upheld the death sentence of a Vietnamese-born Australian national for trafficking heroin.
Pham Trung Dung, 40, was arrested on May 17, 2013, as he and his partner were about to board a flight to Australia, after authorities at Tan Son Nhat International Airport found two packages containing a white powder hidden in his suitcase.
It was later confirmed that the white powder Dung was carrying was 3.5kg of heroin.
Dung, who has lived in Australia since 2000, told the investigation body that while he was visiting his family in HCM City, he met a person named Kien, who has not yet been identified. Dung said that at Kien’s request he agreed to carry two suitcases to Australia and hand them over to a man named Loi for AUD40,000 (VND600 million).
On August 24, 2016, at the second hearing, the HCM City People’s Court found Dung guilty and handed him a death sentence.
On April 17, the HCM City Superior Court said Dung and his lawyers had failed to put forth new evidence or circumstances for the ruling to be commuted.
The court also upheld the decision that his partner was innocent as there is no evidence to show that she was an accomplice.
It was later confirmed that the white powder Dung was carrying was 3.5kg of heroin.
Dung, who has lived in Australia since 2000, told the investigation body that while he was visiting his family in HCM City, he met a person named Kien, who has not yet been identified. Dung said that at Kien’s request he agreed to carry two suitcases to Australia and hand them over to a man named Loi for AUD40,000 (VND600 million).
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On April 17, the HCM City Superior Court said Dung and his lawyers had failed to put forth new evidence or circumstances for the ruling to be commuted.
The court also upheld the decision that his partner was innocent as there is no evidence to show that she was an accomplice.
