a Malaysian court of appeal upheld the death penalty...

a Malaysian court of appeal upheld the death penalty for a Japanese ex-nurse convicted of drug smuggling, rejecting the defense’s implication that the evidence had been mishandled. The court denied 38-year-old Mariko Takeuchi’s appeal and maintains the decision to hang her for trafficking 3.5 kilograms of Methamphetamine from Dubai. She was the first Japanese to be convicted of drug trafficking charge and the first to be sentenced to death in Malaysia. Takechi was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Oct. 31, 2009 for carrying the illicit drugs from Dubai. Court justice dismissed Takeuchi’s defense questioning the credibility of investigators as evidence tendered to the court was inconsistent with that seized by the police. The 38-year-old from Aomori prefecture had denied knowledge of the drugs in her luggage, saying she had delivered the luggage from Dubai as a favor for an Iranian acquaintance she met there. Takeuchi’s counsel Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi said he would appeal to the federal court.