VIETNAM. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL

an appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, upheld a death sentence for Trinh Huu, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin convicted of heroin trafficking. In a one-day trial, the Supreme People's Court of Appeals rejected the appeal by Huu, 54, who was convicted in late 2005 of trafficking 1.8 kilograms of heroin. The court also upheld sentences for three Vietnamese citizens of 15 years to life in prison for involvement in the case. Huu was arrested at the Vietnamese-Cambodian border crossing of Moc Bai in Tay Ninh province in December 2004.