AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT SAID IT WOULD APPEAL CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR BALI DRUG SUSPECTS

Australia's prime minister, John Howard, said the government would appeal any death sentence which might be handed down to nine Australians accused of drug trafficking in Indonesia.
Indonesian police said they were seeking capital punishment for all nine allegedly involved in an attempt to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from the island of Bali to the Australian city of Sydney.
While Mr Howard said it is up to the court to decide whether they were guilty or innocent, the Australian government would argue against the death penalty.
"As far as the death penalty is concerned, we have a long standing policy that if an Australian is sentenced to death overseas we do everything we can to win a reprieve from the death sentence," he said.
That applies irrespective of the person, it applies irrespective of the case."