VIETNAM: AUSTRALIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN VIETNAM

a Vietnamese court handed the death penalty to an Australian man it found guilty of trafficking almost one kilogram of heroin. Tony Manh, 40, was caught at Tan Son Nhat airport in March as he readied to board a flight to Sydney, an official of the Ho Chi Minh City's people's court told AFP. Police immigration officials said earlier that Manh had hidden the drugs in his underwear before checking in for the Vietnam Airlines flight. Manh told the court he was paid $US10,000 ($A12,000) by a Vietnamese man to transport the drugs out of the country, the Vietnam News Agency said. Phan Tanh, deputy head of the People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City said the court would put on trial two other Australians of Vietnamese origin later this week, also on charges of heroin trafficking. There was no suggestion the cases were connected to Manh's.