Image capture of video by Hai Cao Mihn via YouTube channel - A local Vietnam court sentenced to death a septuagenarian Vietnam-born Australian woman
- The court found the woman guilty of attempting to smuggle 2.8 kilos of heroin out of the country
- The old wowan was given 15 days to file an appeal against the court’s verdict
A septuagenarian Vietnam-born Australian woman was sentenced to death by a court in Vietnam after finding her guilty of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs out of the country.
73-year-old Nguyen Thi Huong was given the death sentence by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court during her trial on charges of “illegally transporting drugs.”
Huong was arrested on December 10, 2014 at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after airport authorities found 2.8 kilograms of heroin concealed in bars of soap inside her luggage as she was boarding a flight to Sydney, Australia.
In her defense, Huong claimed she was not aware that the 36 bars of soap given to her by a certain Thai woman named “Helen” contained heroin. She said “Helen” gave them to her while they were on a trip to the coastal city of Vung Tau.
Huong said she intended to take the bars of soap to Australia as gifts to friends and families.
The court, however, said the septuagenarian Australian woman failed to prove the existence of “Helen” and was found guilty of drug trafficking. She was sentenced to die by lethal injection.
The old woman’s lawyer demanded a more lenient sentence for her, citing her advanced age and poor state of health. But the court upheld the death sentence because of the gravity of the woman’s offense.
The Sydney Morning Herald noted that in Vietnam, trafficking of at least 100 grams of heroin is already punishable by death.
Huong’s camp was given fifteen days to appeal the court’s verdict.
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