President of the S.R.V Tran Duc Luong has decided to commute Tran Van Thanh's death sentence to life imprisonment
ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENTS BY MR. LE DZUNG, THE SPOKESMAN
OF THE VIETNAMESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON 23th AUGUST 2005
Question from AFP: Please confirm reports that Vietnam has agreed to commute an Australian citizen named Tran Van Thanh, 40, the death sentence upheld last March by the Appeal court of Ho Chi Minh City People's Court for charge of drug trading.
Answer:
Tran Van Thanh, born in 1965 and holding Australian citizenship, was arrested on June 30th, 2003 and sentenced to death by Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on November 5th, 2004 on charge of illegal drug trading. On March 21st, 2005, the Appeal court of the People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the verdict against Tran Van Thanh. It's a proper punishment for drug trafficking and trading crime.
However, prompted by the humanitarian tradition, by the good relationship between Australia and Vietnam and based on the appeal for pardon from Tran Van Thanh, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Tran Duc Luong has decided to commute Tran Van Thanh's death sentence to life imprisonment./.
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