On November 4, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court handed...

On November 4, Ho Chi Minh City People's Court handed down the death penalty to three Cambodian nationals - Chuan Oi, Seng Bun Si and Tran The Trung - and two Vietnamese nationals - Quach Kim Thuan and Nguyen Hong Minh Thanh. They were all found guilty of smuggling 800 grammes of heroin and 3.6 kilogrammes of opium from Cambodia. On December 4, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed to his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Van Khai not to execute the three Cambodians sentenced to death on charges of drug trafficking. "On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia and myself, I would like to request the Vietnamese government to examine and reduce the sentences of the two people from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Hun Sen said in a letter.