VIETNAM UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR AUSTRALIAN

the People's Court of Appeals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, reaffirmed the death sentence for Tony Manh, 40, after hearing no new evidence for a reduction in his sentence, a court official told the Associated Press. Manh was convicted in September of trafficking 948g of heroin and sentenced to death. He was arrested in March when security officers at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City found drugs hidden on his body as he was about to board a plane to Sydney. State media said Manh was paid $US10,000 by a Vietnamese to smuggle the drug into Australia. Manh has seven days to appeal to President Nguyen Minh Triet for leniency.