Australian on death row in Vietnam for smuggling heroin

December 21, 2005

An Australian man arrested last December near the Cambodian border in Vietnam, Trinh Huu, has been sentenced to death by a Vietnamese People's Court for smuggling 2kg of heroin. Amnesty International has urged the Australian Federal Government to do everything it can to help the man. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has said that Trinh was receiving consular assistance, but that it was too early to negotiate for clemency as his case is still subject to appeal. The government has reiterated its long standing opposition to the death penalty.