VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN DEATH-ROW CONVICT LOSES DEATH PENALTY APPEAL

a 45-year-old Australian of Vietnamese origin has lost his appeal against his death sentence for trafficking heroin in Vietnam, state media say. The Nhan Dan (People) newspaper says the Court of Appeal in Ho Chi Minh City has rejected Nguyen Van Chinh's appeal. Only a presidential pardon can save him from execution.
Chinh was found guilty in April of buying 1.05 kilograms of heroin to send abroad. He was arrested in December 2002 with 56-year-old Huynh Thi Anh Dao, a woman who sold the drugs and whose appeal against her life sentence has also been rejected. The 45-year-old has seven days to appeal to the Vietnamese President for clemency.