|
Australian journalist faces drug charges in Singapore
|
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - An Australian journalist was arrested in Singapore on drug-related charges, the Australian government said on Friday, and faces up to 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the cane if convicted.
Peter Lloyd, a senior journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation, was detained on Wednesday after Singapore's drug police had received a tipoff.
Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement that Lloyd had allegedly supplied a Singaporean man with drugs and was caught with 0.8 grams (0.028 ounces) of methamphetamine, one smoking pipe and six syringes.
It said Lloyd's urine had tested positive for amphetamine.
"We can confirm the arrest of ABC journalist Peter Lloyd in Singapore on drug-related charges on 16 July," said a spokesman for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"The Australian High Commission in Singapore has visited Mr. Lloyd and is providing consular assistance to him."
Lloyd will be charged in a Singapore court on Friday, a court official said.
Click Here for full story
ABC reporter Peter Lloyd in Singapore drugs arrest
Consular officials visit journalist
|
|
Three Australians arrested over heroin haul
|
THREE Australians have been arrested in Hanoi for allegedly trafficking around 2kg of heroin.
The three were arrested at Ho Chi Minh City airport yesterday, according to a report in Vietnam's Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper.
The suspects, who are of Vietnamese origins, were not named, nor did the report say what flight, or flights, they had intended to board.
Police in the communist country also confiscated $10,000 and six mobile telephones, the report said.
Vietnam is considered a major trafficking hub for the heroin trade, including to Australia.
Just last week, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith used a visit to Vietnam to urge the country to spare two Australians sentenced to death for drug-trafficking.
Mr Smith said he had received assurances from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that the Government was giving "careful and proper" consideration to appeals for clemency made by the two.
Jasmine Luong, 34, of Sydney, was sentenced to death on appeal in March after police found 1.4kg of heroin hidden in her shoes and luggage as she prepared to board a flight home from Ho Chi Minh City last year.
Tony Manh, 40, of New South Wales, was sentenced to death in September 2007 after he was arrested with just under 1kg of heroin hidden on his body as he too tried to board a plane to Sydney from the same airport last year.
Several Australians of Vietnamese origin have been arrested in recent months for suspected drug trafficking.
Click Here for full story
Australian arrested in Vietnam for heroin trafficking
Vietnam law commission wants death penalty for fewer crimes
|
|
A Nightmare of his own Making...
|

Photo Right: Randy Sachs, Canada. [Pictured middle]
|
Randy Sachs from Hamilton Ontario [Canada] turned 31 years old this year and unless he is granted Clemency from the Vietnam President, he will have to face another decade in a nightmare of his own making before finally being allowed to return home to family and friends.
In May 2003, Randy Sachs was arrested with 1000 pills of ecstasy in his possession. Caught 'Red handed' there's no denying that he broke the law and deserves to be punished. Even Randy himself admits that he was foolish to risk his life for easy cash. His friends say he let himself down, that he brought a great deal of shame on his family who were horrified when told the news of his arrest. They were then politely asked by authorities to pay for the body bag prior to his pending execution. Vietnamese authorities later commuted his sentence of death to the lesser charge of 16 years for drug possession.
Now 5 years on, Randy Sachs is presently housed in North Vietnam's Thanh Xuan Detention Centre, the only prison in the north of the country that has a strong focus on re-educating foreign prisoners. There are of course, hundreds of Asian and Western prisoners in the Thanh Xuan Detention but the conditions are considered better there than elsewhere in the country.
This year's Tet Festival or Vietnamese Lunar New Year was celebrated in Thanh Xuan prison. A time for family reunions, commemoration of ancestors, harmony and exchange of best wishes, special food, new clothes, new beginnings and other festive activities. Dozens of prisoners in Thanh Xuan prison had dressed in striped uniforms and made themselves busy by preparing meat and pork pies in anticipation of the celebration. In the middle of the activity stood Randy Sachs, eager to catch a 100kg pig by himself.
Click Here for full story
Randy Sachs Campaign Page
|
|
Mercenary jailed 34 years for coup plot
|
A FORMER British commando who traded a privileged upbringing for life as a gun for hire will spend three decades in an "infamous" African jail for his role in a foiled coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.
Simon Mann - described as a "man who had everything" - gambled it all on catching the country's presidential guards by surprise. Instead his plane packed with mercenaries never left the tarmac in Zimbabwe, where they were trying to pick up enough weapons to take over a country.
Mann comes from a famous family of British brewers and cricket captains and attended Eton College and Sandhurst military academy, where princes William and Harry have also been schooled in the ways of the English upper class.
He has seven children at home in England, the youngest of which he has never met - and will not meet anytime soon. Mann has been sentenced to 34 years and four months behind bars in a prison reputedly well known for its brutality.
Mann, 55, was said to have been the brains of the coup plot. He and his co-accused, Lebanese-born Mohamed Salaami, who received an 18-year sentence, had both said during their trial that they were sorry for their parts in it.
After the sentence was handed down, Mann told a British TV crew he did not know if he was allowed to appeal against it. "I don't know how it works here. Maybe you can appeal, I don't know," he said.
However he seemed to be accepting his fate and preparing for a long stretch in prison: "I'll just have to push it. At least I know now I can push it, after four years in Zimbabwe," he said. Mann spent four years in a Zimbabwean prison awaiting extradition to Equatorial Guinea.
Britain's Times Online described the jail where Mann will serve his sentence as being one of Africa's most infamous. It described the Zimbabwean jail as being "equally notorious".
Click Here for Complete Story
Mann gets 34 years
Simon Mann jailed for 34 years for Equatorial Guinea coup plot
Mann sings in E Guinea coup trial
British mercenary goes on trial over EGuinea coup plot
Equatorial Guinea - The Mercenary Confesses
Drama, farce at Simon Mann coup trial
Mercenary Simon Mann's path from Eton to an African jail
Simon Mann Case Information
|
|
Australia asks Vietnam for clemency for 2 Australians convicted of drug trafficking
|
HANOI, Vietnam: Australia urged Vietnam on Wednesday to spare two Australians convicted of drug trafficking from the firing squad.
Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he received assurances from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that the government was giving "careful and proper" consideration to appeals for clemency made by two Australian citizens of Vietnamese origin on death row for drug trafficking.
"I've made the point that Australia supports those bids of clemency," Smith said.
Jasmine Luong, 34, of Sydney, was sentenced to death on appeal in March after police found 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms) of heroin hidden in her shoes and luggage as she prepared to board a flight home from Ho Chi Minh City last year.
Tony Manh, 40, of New South Wales state was sentenced to death in September 2007 after he was arrested with 2 pounds (0.948 kilograms) of heroin hidden on his body as he too tried to board a plane to Sydney from the same airport last year.
At least four Vietnamese-Australians convicted of drug trafficking have had their death sentences commuted following requests from the Australian government, which banned the death penalty in 1973. Vietnam has not executed any Australians for drug offenses.
Several Vietnamese-Australians have been arrested in recent months for suspected drug trafficking, including three accused of trying to smuggle heroin onto airplanes.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Drug trade leads to ban on prison gifts
|
The Corrections Department has decided to ban gifts delivered in person or by mail to inmates in its latest bid to counter the drugs trade in prisons.
The move comes after corrections officials found drugs in toothpaste, curry and even dead toads thrown over prison walls.
Department chief Wanchai Rujanawong said drug trafficking into jails had become more elaborate, but each prison had only two staff to screen gifts.
Since early this year, corrections staff have intercepted drugs stuffed in basic necessities, such as toothpaste and baby powder, sent to prisoners. Drugs were also found hidden inside thaepoh pork curry (speed pills hidden in straws inserted inside the morning glory stalks) and inside fried eggs.
Some people even removed the insides from dead toads, replaced the organs with packets of methamphetamine, and then tossed them over the prison walls.
Therefore, gifts and postal packages would no longer be allowed, Mr Wanchai said.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Vietnam heroin charges for Victorian woman
|

A VICTORIAN woman has been arrested in southern Vietnam after she collapsed with heroin in her stomach, state media reported.
Tran Thi Ngoc Dung, 35, was leaving her hotel in Ho Chi Minh City on her way to a flight home on Sunday when she fell unconscious and was rushed to hospital, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said.
Doctors found she had two condoms full of heroin in her stomach and one of them had burst, the paper said.
Ms Dung was still in the hospital but had been put under arrest.
It was unclear how much heroin she was carrying.
Vietnam has some of the world's harshest drug laws.
Possession of 600g or more of heroin is punishable by death.
Click Here for full story
Viet-Aust woman busted for attempted heroin smuggling
Australian drug mule 'stopped breathing'
|
|
Indonesia executes Nigerian drug traffickers: official
|
Drugs are destroyed in Jakarta |
JAKARTA (AFP) — Two Nigerian drug traffickers were executed by firing squad early Friday in Indonesia, an official said.
"A firing squad of 12 people executed them in an outdoor area some three kilometres away from their prison," provincial prisons chief Bambang Winahyo told AFP.
He said the execution was carried out just after midnight near Nusakambangan island prison in central Java.
Samuel Iwachekwu Okeye and Hansen Anthoni Nwaoysa were caught smuggling some seven kilogrammes (15.4 pounds) of heroin into the country through Soekarno Hatta airport in 2001.
Their requests for clemency from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were rejected in 2004.
Winahyo said the Nigerian embassy had asked Indonesia to take care of their burial.
The last person to be executed for a drug offence in Indonesia was an Indian national in 2004.
Click Here for full story
Planned execution of Nigerian convicts incites riot in Nusakambangan prison
Drug convicts' execution needs acceleration: Police Chief
Indonesia shoots two drug smugglersBy Karen Michelmore in Jakarta
|
|
Hmong refugee drama in the North - The Nation
|
Leaders of the dramatic protest march out of the Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Phetchabun have been forcibly returned to Laos along with a group of Hmong wanted by the Lao authorities, sources in the North said Sunday.
A further 800 refugees are in the process of being deported to Laos today - some allegedlyagainst their will, but many having accepted money from the Thai government to return to their homeland after languishing for several years while United Nations refugee officials were denied access to the camp.
Another 500 to 600 people have been locked up in provincial jails after the Army forcibly dispersed the huge protest late Saturday, while reporters were kept well away from the scene of the stand-off.
An estimated 5,000 people marched out of the strife-torn Huay Nam Khao camp early on Friday saying they were walk to Bangkok to draw international attention to their plight. The Hmong were blocked by riot police and troops on a road about 5km from the Khet Noi, the next village, and forced to spend a night in the open.
The Phetchabun governor arrived Saturday to negotiate with the refugees, who have endured a series of crises in recent weeks, including a fire that burnt down half the homes in their camp.
The blaze is believed to have been deliberately lit, possibly at the instigation of Hmong groups in the US, to try to draw international attention to the refugees' plight. The US Government introduced legislation in Congress recently to try to prevent the Hmong from being forcibly returned.
US officials have been monitoring developments in the camp closely and the State Department is said to be considering a "large intake" of Hmong refugees, although no decision appears to have been reached at this stage.
About 8,000 Lao Hmong have been languishing in the camp for several years claiming they have fled harassment and persecution in their communist homeland, largely because of ties to the CIA-backed force that fought the communists in the 1960s and 70s.
However the Thai and Lao governments say the Hmong in Phetchabun are simply economic migrants duped by human traffickers who led them to believe they could be resettled in the West.
Click Here for full story
Update: More Hmong refugees deported to Laos
|
|
Hmong forced to return to Laos after big protest march
|
Despite recent legislation in the US aimed at stopping the forced repatriation of Hmong people from Thailand to Laos, local authorities forced a large group of the minority hilltribe people to return yesterday.
The forced repatriation by Thai officials happened after about 5,000 Hmong marched out of the Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun on Friday, attempting to walk to Bangkok to draw international attention to their plight.
Sources in the North said some leaders of the march from the refugee camp were forcibly returned to Laos yesterday, along with a group of Hmong wanted by Lao authorities.
The sources said another 800 Hmong will be deported to Laos today _ some allegedly against their will. However, many have accepted money from the government to return to Laos after being in camps in Thailand for several years.
United Nations refugee officials were denied access to the camps.
The army forcibly broke up the protest march on Saturday and 500 to 600 Hmong have been locked up in provincial jails.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Drug traffickers get long prison terms
|
VietNamNet Bridge - Seven people were found guilty of drug trafficking by a HCM City court yesterday, and sentenced from seven to 22 years in jail.
Nguyen Tuan Khanh (first from the left) and his accomplices at the court (Photo: VNE)
|
Nguyen Tuan Khanh, 49, the head of the ring,received 22 years on charges of illegally storing and trafficking drugs. He is an Australian national.
The HCM City People’s Court gave Vu Quang Anh, a 32-year-old resident from Hai Phong, an 18 year jail term for drug trafficking.
Five other members of the drug ring were convicted of the same charge. Tran Thanh Tuan, a 29-year-old resident of HCM City’s District 7, was sentenced to 9 years in jail. Nguyen Hoang Hung, 38, of Nha Be District and Pham Doan Dang Vinh, 25, of Tan Phu District received 8 years imprisonment each; while Phan Duc Tai, 39, of District 8 and Luu Trung Dung, 35, of Tan Phu District received 7 year jail terms.
According to the court verdict, between October 2006 and March 2007, Khanh led an organisation that supplied HCM City bars and dance clubs with drugs. Khanh gave Anh 3,450 pills of amphetamines and over 45 grammes of ketamine, and sold 250 pills of amphetamines to Vinh.
Anh and Vinh then sold the drugs to Dung, Hung, Tuan and Tai.
According to documents provided by Australian police, Khanh was reportedly involved in smuggling 440 grammes of ephedrine from Viet Nam to Australia.
Click Here for full story
Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City police burdened with drug busts
|
|
'Bali Six' plotted drug run in Valley karaoke bar, court told
|
ACCUSED ... Francis Vui Jan Lee, one of three alleged drug mules who appeared in a Brisbane court.
|
An accused drug mule and member of Brisbane's so-called 'Bali Six' complained the tape used to strap heroin to her body during an alleged drug run through Sydney Airport four years ago had irritated her skin, a court has heard.
Alice Yun Hsun Yang, 22 of Stretton, is facing trail in Brisbane's Supreme Court over an alleged conspiracy to import drugs into Australia from the Indonesian tourist mecca between August 1 and December 14, 2004.
Three other's, Shoade Cao, 21 of Sunnybank, Francis Vui Jan Lee, 25 of Stafford Heights and Do Hyung Lee, 27 of Sunnybank, have also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.
The final members of the so-called 'Bali Six' - student Khanh Ly, 27, and Atoallii Partsch, 24 - have admitted their role in the alleged ring.
The group are accused of carrying out two separate drug runs alongside the infamous Bali Nine, now languishing in an Indonesian jail, two awaiting death by firing squad.
Click Here for Complete Story
Bali Nine gang leader fled, court told
Drug runner testifies against alleged co-offenders
Star witness in 'Bali Six' trial a former drug addict
DEATH PENALTY: Bali Nine Case - Test For Aussie Policy
Three of Bali Nine to escape execution
Bali three spared death
Day by day in a Bali jail
'Playing dumb' put Bali Nine on death row
Bali 9 case Information
|
|
Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention extended
|
Yesterday, the regime extended Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention again.
No formal announcement was made, but reports say the detention is for at least another six months.
She has now spent over 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest. Her current period of house arrest began in 2003.
The regime is once again breaking its own laws by extending her detention for a total of more than five years.
The State Protection Law 1975, under which she is held, only allows the regime to detain her for a maximum of five years. Around 20 members of the National League for Democracy were also arrested yesterday as they marched to her home to call for her release.
Even though UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was in Burma in the run-up to Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention expiring, he did not call on Burma’s generals to release her. In fact, he didn’t even mention her name. The international community is failing to put pressure on the regime because it is afraid it will affect aid deals. However, the current humanitarian crisis is being caused by a political problem, a dictatorship that refuses to allow aid to reach the people and Aung San Suu Kyi is key to solving that political problem.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Cannabis blunder at Tokyo airport
|

Sniffer dog at airport - file photo
|
The cannabis was hidden to test Narita airport's sniffer dogs
An unwitting passenger arriving at Japan's Narita airport has received 142g of cannabis after a customs test went awry, officials say.
A customs officer hid a package of the banned substance in a side pocket of a randomly chosen suitcase in order to test airport security.
Sniffer dogs failed to detect the cannabis and the officer could not remember which bag he had put it in.
Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Hong Kong Business man comes to the rescue
|
FPSS Media Release
- Sunday 18 May 2008
Photo: Bruce Rockowitz, Rachel Diaz, Kay Danes
Bruce Rockowitz, president of Li & Fung (Trading), donated about A$9,400 (HK$69,953) yesterday to Rachel Diaz's family in Sydney after reading of the young woman's plight.
'We have been communicating with Mr. Rockowitz's office over the past week and were very happy when we were able to confirm with Mr. Diaz that the funds had actually been transferred' said Kay Danes, FPSS Family advocate for the Diaz Family.
A subsequent donation was pledged late Friday evening from another source. These funds would be extremely beneficial in helping Rachel rebuild her life. The Diaz family are heavily in debt due to the high costs of supporting a loved one detained in a foreign prison.
'It will take years for this family to fully recover from this ordeal. I know that it has cost them in excess of $30,000 in travel expenses over three years and several thousands more in sending Rachel much needed essential supplies to maintain a basic level of care. This is money the family didn't have but begged and borrowed to come up with.' said Kay Danes.
Many people have been alerted to Rachel's plight through the Foreign Prisoner Support Service. Advocates of the volunteer group said they were happy to be part of such a successful outcome for Rachel and her family. The Service itself does not recieve any funding from the Government or elsewhere. It is run by only three people, Tony Fox, Martin Hodgson and Kay Danes, who tirelessly volunteer their spare time without any reward or renumeration to make people aware of such cases.
Click Here for full story
No jail swaps if family don't pay
Cost crushes young prisoner's hope of transfer to Australia
Rachel Diaz admitted to hospital in Hong Kong
|
|
No jail swaps if family don't pay
| |
THE NSW Government is charging traumatised families thousands of dollars to bring convicted relatives back to Australia - a cost-recovery measure that has infuriated the Rudd Government.
Under the NSW prisoner transfer policy, the families of people convicted overseas who want to serve the remainder of their jail terms in a state prison must pay for a police escort's airfare and accommodation.
The parents of convicted drug smuggler Rachel Diaz, a 20-year-old Australian jailed in Hong Kong, are among those who cannot afford the $10,043 charge to bring their daughter home to serve the rest of her jail sentence in Sydney.
Click Here for full story
|
|
UK Citizen Michael Newman dies in Lao Prison.
|

Michael Newman Phonthong Prison Feb 2007. Copyright FPSS. This photograph is subject to copyright and not to be copied or used elsewhere without written permission from FPSS.
|
UK Citizen Michael Newman was found dead in his prison cell this morning where he was detained in the squalid conditions of Phonthong Prison, Laos. His Thai wife Jeab has been notified as has his family in the UK.
Friends who kept in touch with Mike said they believed he suffered terribly in the Laos jail where human rights are practically non-existent. He battled depression and constant sickness to which he was denied proper medical treatment and care.
FPSS advocates had been campaigning for Michael Newman's repatriation to the UK for several years. They have repeatedly requested the UK Government to urgently negotiate a prisoner transfer agreement that would allow its citizens detained in Laos, Vietnam and other Asian countries, to be repatriated to correctional facilities in the UK. FPSS has issued numerous warnings to the UK Government and others about the fatal conditions inside Phonthong Prison Laos where foreigners and political prisoners are
systematically tortured and ill-treated.
The UK Embassy has endeavoured to expediate the Laos- UK Prisoner Transfer Agreement with very little success.
Many human rights activists believe that Michael Newman died needlessly. He had endured years of mental anguish and suffered everyday of his life in Phonthong Prison. Some would say that he got what he deserved. Others would argue that he was only human and like many humans, prone to mistakes. At the end of the day, he paid the ultimate price with his life.
Who will mourn Michael Newman? Those who witnessed his death will mourn him.. They shouted to police to come and assist but no one came. Life is cheap in Phonthong prison and Michael was after all, a criminal. The saddest reality of all is that his passing won't matter to those who didn't know him or care. But it will to those who believed that despite his past mistakes, he still deserved to live with some dignity at least.
'Mike once told me that he was grateful that we [FPSS] had tried to help him get back to England. He also said he didn't know how much longer he could hang on waiting for that day' said Kay Danes, advocate for FPSS and former political prisoner of Laos. 'I know the Embassy staff tried to do what they could to help him but unfortunately, it was never enough.'
Fellow UK prisoner, John Watson, remains in Phonthong prison on a life sentence for drug related offences. John met with his Embassy outside the Lao prison on the day Michael Newman's body was removed. He was deeply distressed and angry that his fellow countryman had died despite numerous appeals for help. Watson begged the Embassy to assist him in his own plea to be repatriated to the UK.
Click Here for full story
Laos Jail Death - 'boiler room' boss dies
Michael Newman [UK] Case Information
John Watson [UK] Case Information
Phonthong Prison Information
|
|
Schapelle Corby 'could work her way free'
|

Potential leader ... Schapelle Corby is a very good prisoner, the outgoing head of her jail said.
|
CONVICTED Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby may be up for a prison job that could shave years off the 20-year sentence she is serving in an Indonesian jail.
The outgoing head of Bali's Kerobokan Prison today said Corby should be made an inmates' leader - a role that could see up to 11 months cut from her sentence each year.
Corby, who last month lost her final appeal against her sentence, was a "very good" prisoner, Ilham Djaya said.
He said she should be considered for the role of Tamping, where she would lead a small group of prisoners, or the key role of Pemuka, who oversees the Tamping leaders.
Should Corby make the rank of Pemuka, she could be eligible for sentence cuts of up to 11 months every year, Mr Djaya said. Smaller remissions apply to Tamping leaders.
Mr Djaya offered his support for Corby despite the former Gold Coast beauty student's controversial stint at Kerobokan.
Since her detention almost four years ago for cannabis smuggling, Corby has written a book describing the prison as a "disgusting slum". She missed out on a sentence remission last year after she was found with a mobile phone in her cell.
Click Here for full story
I just want to go home, says Schapelle
Condolences to the Corby Family on the passing of Greg
Corby, Bali Nine get taxpayer funded loans
International Advocate hits back in Corby's defence
Corby has final appeal rejected
Court rejects Corby's final appeal
Federal cops want Mercedes
Schapelle Corby case Informaiton
|
|
Mercedes Corby defamation case a real-life drama
|
The Mercedes Corby defamation case has shown well-aimed mud will always stick, writes Garry Linnell.
WHEN the first chill nights arrive heralding the coming of another winter, Rosleigh Rose makes her way into the kitchen and starts preparing tomato jam. She likes the stuff.
"Has a bit of a kick to it," she says. "Good for winter."
But today it hasn't quite worked out to plan.
The matriarch of the Corby clan, a mother with one daughter in prison 4000km away and another locked in a vicious courtroom battle trying to clear the family name, has just burned her latest batch.
Click Here for full story
Corby sister considered bribe to keep Schapelle free
Corby friend paid $120k for story
Photos show party girl Mercedes Corby
|
|
Brenda Martin lands back on Canadian soil
|

A van containing Brenda Martin leaves an airport in Waterloo en route to a women's jail in nearby Kitchener after her release from a Mexican prison on May 1, 2008.
|
OTTAWA–Brenda Martin is finally home, or as close as she can get as she nears the end of an international nightmare that kept her in a Mexican prison for more than two years.
Martin, 51, landed at the Region of Waterloo International Airport in Breslau, Ont. around 6 p.m. yesterday in the custody of officials from the Correctional Service of Canada. She was immediately taken to the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said in an email that Martin is eligible for an accelerated parole review – meaning she could be freed within weeks or months.
Martin's mother, Marjorie Bletcher, 69, heard the long-awaited news on television.
"I'm thrilled she's going to come back to Canada, even if she had to go into prison for a while," Bletcher said from her home in Trenton. "I'm sure it's going to be a pleasant surprise compared to what she has been through in Mexico."
Click Here for full story
Brenda Martin Case Information
|
|
India to repatriate ill UK inmate
|

Tihar jail is India's largest prison
|
A seriously ill Briton serving a jail term for drugs offences in a notorious Indian prison is to see out his 10-year sentence in the UK, officials say.
Stephen Jenkins, 58, from Yorkshire, is being held in Delhi's crowded Tihar jail after being convicted in 2006.
Prison officials say he wants to die in his homeland. The UK says arrangements for his transfer are nearly complete.
Jenkins will be among the first inmates to benefit under a 2005 India-UK accord on prisoner transfers.
Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
US Supreme Court Dances with the Thought of Killing Capital Punishment
|
Last week's decision of the United States Supreme Court to uphold, by a 7-2 majority, the State of Kentucky's three drug cocktail lethal injection protocol has been reported in some quarters as a green light for executions. While the case has caused a moratorium on executions that has lasted since last September to come to an end in some States, its long term significance may be more associated with strengthening the movement to render all executions in the United States in breach of the Eighth Amendment and, thereby, unconstitutional.
At issue in the case was the question whether using a three drug cocktail without safeguards to ensure the unconsciousness of the prisoner from the administration of the first drug, sodium thiopental, created such a risk of a painful death as to amount to a cruel and unusual punishment. The medical evidence in the case indicated that, if sodium thiopental did not produce a sufficient level of unconsciousness, the second drug, pancuronium bromide (used to produce paralysis) and the third drug, potassium chloride (intended to stop the heart) would produce excruciating pain in circumstances where witnesses to the execution would be completely unaware of this occurring and the paralysed prisoner would be unable to communicate his or her circumstances.
Although the majority in favour of not disturbing Kentucky's protocol was 7-2, these numbers hide an important sub-text of the decision. The lead judgment was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, a George Bush appointee and considered part of the more conservative wing, and was joined in by two other judges, Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito. The judgment is framed against the assumption based on past decisions that capital punishment is constitutional and does not stray outside consideration of the precise question before the Court. The key conclusion is expressed in the following terms:
Click Here for Complete Story
Death Penalty Information
|
|
Amb. To Laos: U.S. Working To Find Missing Men
|
The U.S. ambassador to Laos said Wednesday that he is working with Laotian officials to
find three St. Paul men who went missing while touring in Laos in August, reportedly at the hands of the Laotian military.
"We have not been successful in finding them at this point, but we are pursuing the issue and working with Laotian officials," Ambassador Ravic R. Huso said during a tour of The International Marketplace, a cluster of Hmong shops just north of the state Capitol.
Last August, the families of Hakit Yang, Conghineng Yang and Trillion Yunhaison reported
that the men had gone missing after traveling to Laos to sight-see and pursue business opportunities.
Hmong advocacy groups claimed the men were arrested by Laotian military and security forces,
though the government of Laos has denied that allegation.
Huso, appointed by President Bush eight months ago, traveled to St. Paul to meet with refugees who have made
St. Paul one of the largest Hmong enclaves in the United States. As many as 60,000 Hmong, many of whom fled
Laos in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, have built lives here while remaining closely tied to their homeland.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Three of Bali Nine to escape execution
|
The team at Foreignprisoners.com were absolutely thrilled to receive the news that the Indonesian authorities have overturned the death penalty of Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tan Nguyen.
This has been an emotional campaign for all of us involved in trying to save the lives of these three boys but there is still a very long way to go before they can reunite with their families back home in Australia.
It was easy for people to say 'shoot them because they knew what they were doing' - but these were just young boys who lost their way and whilst none of us condone their actions, we are so pleased that we were able to help manage a campaign that resulted in such a successful outcome.
Myself, Tony Fox and Martin Hodgson adopted an approach that was respectful to the Indonesian authorities and the judicial process of Indonesia. It was paramount to our campaign, after all, no one can deny that these boys broke the law. We just didn't want to see them executed for making the wrong choices in life.
Matthew, Si Yi and Tan will still spend a very long time in jail. They are not 'getting off' or evading what will still be a very difficult journey ahead but now there is some hope. Before this decision, we were facing a deadline to a firing squad. Now we are facing a timeline to rehabilitation. Now we have the time to help these boys find a new path and to use their lives in more meaningful ways.
Click Here for Complete Story
Bali three spared death
Day by day in a Bali jail
'Playing dumb' put Bali Nine on death row
Mick Keelty's Keystone moment
Bali 9 case Information
|
|
Media Statement from Families
On behalf of the families of Si Yi Chen, Matthew Norman and Tan Nguyen, we have been asked to thank the media most sincerely for their interest and appreciation to the overwhelming number of letters/emails of supporters that have flooded our volunteer service since the news broke this morning.
At this time the families request that the media respect their right to privacy. They will not be giving any media interviews but are in contact with their loved ones detained in Bali, and are relieved by the decision of the Indonesian authorities. They are indeed grateful to all those who have supported them throughout such a terrible ordeal but there is still a very long way to go before they are reunited with their loved ones back home in Australia. They hope that the other families throughout the world who have loved ones on death row will continue to endure, especially those whose loved ones are also detained in Bali.
FPSS advocates are not able to provide details or contact with families, at their request. We are happy to forward your correspondence to them however.
Media contact:
24 hr response
|
|
Branson sends Cat home 1st Class
|
Cat Le-Huy was released from Al Wathba Prison early this morning after a very long 6 weeks.
We are relieved that he is finally free. Cat is very tired but excited to be returning to his normal life & thankful to the many people who have helped him throughout this ordeal.
Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic has kindly given personal attention to the matter and is flying Cat back to London in luxury tomorrow.
There is a sense of relief from friends and family. We are all looking forward to seeing him in person.
Click Here for full story
Cat Le-Huy - Released in Dubai
Cat Le-Huy Case Information
|
|
Toddlers live behind prison bars / In Mexico City, female inmates can keep their children with them up to age 6
|

Victoria Jaramillo, 40, holding her 3-month-old daughter, Frida,
|
The increased activity of women participating in drug dealing has increased dramaticaly in the last
two decades and so has the percentage of young children living with them in jail.
They lack proper pediatric, nutricion and psychological attention besides the adecuate conditions for their physical,
mental, spiritual, moral and social growth.
I had the opportunity to visit the prison in the city of La Paz and meet and visit four women living inside
a small cell with 4 bunkbeds, a stove and kitchen utenlils all crowded together with their personal belongings,
in this case with 2 small children.
The motive of my visit was to assist my friend Dr. Lourdez Gonzalez Aleman who was doing medical volunteer
work there at the time.
Click Here for Complete Story
Mexican Prison Information
|
|
Cagedprisoners calls for enquiry into outsourcing of torture of Danish resident
|
Cageprisoners calls upon the Danish government and the Council of Europe to investigate the case of Mohamad Hamid and the practice of outsourcing torture by agencies within the Danish administration.
Mohamad Hamid, a Danish resident, husband to Danish national Nusaibah Andersen and father to their two month old daughter,
is currently in prison in Denmark facing deportation to the Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Hailing from the Chukmanee
people, Mohamad faces the immediate threat of danger to his life as he will be placed in the custody of Kurds who have
had a generations old dislike for his people.
"The use of torture through proxy states is becoming more and more frequent," commented Asim Qureshi, Senior Researcher at Cageprisoners. "Officially Western governments call for the rule of law and criticise countries such as China and Egypt for their torture records, however have now become willing to stoop to such unlawful practices through outsourcing the detention of individuals or deporting them to countries that practice torture. Syria has become a prime location for intelligence authorities to have people detained and the Syrian authorities are quite willing to collude."
Fara' Falastin - Syrian Torture
On a family trip to Syria to meet relatives not seen for many years, Mohamed was detained by Syrian authorities at the airport on his arrival. He was immediately taken to the Fara' Falastin prison, notoriously used by the Syrian authorities in order to detain western suspects. Other detainees, residents in Western countries, held in this prison include Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmed Abou El Maati, Muayyad Nureddin, Said Arif and Jerome Hibell.
Standard treatment, confirmed by those detained in the prison, includes the use of plastic rods to beat the soles of the feet, electrocution, and 'the tyre'. Often detainees were kept in a cell called 'the grave' which had dimensions of 2mx1mx1m,
"I was not exposed to sunlight for six months. The only time I left the grave was for interrogation, and for the visits. Daily life in that place was hell." [Maher Arar]
On entering the prison Mohamed was told that he would never leave again and from there the beatings began immediately. Conditions for him were extremely bad as his wife describes some of what took place,
"...when they changed him from the first cell to the second cell he was put in a cell filled with people to the extent that they nearly lay on each other, and it was totally dark, no light at all." [Nusaibah Andersen, wife of Mohamad Hamid]
Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
The Killing Fields of Laos
|
On February 8, 2008 Radio Free Asia reported the Lao government had stepped up it's efforts to exterminate the Secret War Veterans and their families still hiding in the mountains. The LPDR given "shoot to kill" orders to it's military, and has offered a bounty of 6,000,000 Kip ($600 US), promotions, and membership in the communist party, for the bodies of Hmong still in the remote jungles. In an apparent effort to prevent reports of atrocities Laos has solicited the help of Vietnam to use high-tech devises to detect the location of satellite phones that have been furnished to the groups in hiding by the Fact Finding Commission.
Radio Free Asia's report can be seen: here
The Fact Finding Commission continues to receive reports from the jungles of Laos of the attacks by the Lao Military. The follow report was received on February 12, 2008:
Nou Ma Chang and Chia Xang Yang from the jungles of Laos reported from January 15, 2008 to February 10, 2008, there had been a total of 71 deaths altogether. 22 of died from being attacked by the Lao military forces. 49 died because of starvation. Those that died are as follows:
li>Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
Australian student arrested in Bali
|
An Australian student has been arrested in Bali for alleged drug possession.
Denpasar Police drug squad head Gde Astawa said the 23-year-old was arrested in north Kuta on Tuesday afternoon after he was found with 0.3g of methamphetamine.
The man, who was born in Sri Lanka but is an Australian citizen, is only known by his initials AS.
He is in police custody in Denpasar.
Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
Campaign For Hilltribe Prisoners In Thailand
|
Since the military coup in Thailand on 19th September 2006 the newly installed regime has lost no time in digging out corruption in the ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Evidence of corruption has not been hard to find, thus providing some justification for the coup. Ex-Prime Minister, and former policeman, Thaksin, now a wanted man in Thailand and on the run, has found sanctuary in the U.K. and in Singapore where he has business dealings. Meanwhile, his associates, cronies, officials and police in Thailand are being investigated and arrested for corruption.
Thaksin's ruthless war on drugs in recent years, with well over 2,000 killings, many of them extra-judicial killings by Thai police in which many hilltribe people lost their lives or were imprisoned, is one area where the police involved face prosecution. Drugs cases make up a lion's share of about 80% of Thailand's prison population, currently put at about 160,000 by the Department of Corrections. The U.K. has a similar population to Thailand at roughly 60 million, but with only half as many prisoners as Thailand the U.K.'s prison system is creaking at full capacity. Thai officials and other commentators have for years said that 20% or more of prisoners in Thailand are innocent, many of them victims of corrupt police and other officials. Hilltribe people are soft victims. While they comprise less than 2% of the official Thai population, they make up a far larger proportion of the Thai prison population, with estimates in some institutions of 50% or more hilltribe inmates.
The new, military backed government has made recent efforts to assess and release innocent prisoners. About 8,000 prisoners registered for consideration, out of which 560 were selected for further investigation and possible release. The government is also reported to be considering the release of prisoners who have already served more than 10 years.
The post-coup government obviously realizes that there are serious problems in the justice, police and prison systems that need to be addressed urgently. Deep-seated corruption in these institutions has contributed to the problems Thailand has in the south of the country, as well as to the suffering of hilltribe people in the north. However, recent bombings in Bangkok and the south indicate that the cleaning up of corruption in Thai institutions may not be so easy, and that there is a danger of the country falling back into military dictatorship.
The future of Thailand now hangs in the balance, while history affords little confidence that a clean, functioning, democratic government will emerge. Meanwhile, the King remains very popular and appears as an island of stability in the midst of a troubled state. Having celebrated 60 years on the throne as of 9th June 2006, the King is the longest reigning monarch now living in the world. Prisoners in Thailand are eagerly awaiting the King's 80th birthday on 5th December 2007 in hope for a big amnesty.
Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
US Military Doctors Infect Guantanamo Detainee with HIV
|
US Attorney H. Candace Gorman has revealed that her client Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi has been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Al Ghizzawi believes the infection happened during medical procedures at Guantanamo in 2004 when he was given a blood test which resulted in alarm amongst the hospital staff. Al Ghizzawi was not given any explanation for the alarm at the time. As a result Al-Ghizzawi has now been told that he is suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Having already been suffering from Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis (which he also acquired at Guantanamo) Al Ghizzawi has been held in severe isolation in Camp 6.
Gorman filed an emergency application with the US Supreme Court asking that the US military be ordered to treat Al-Ghizzawi's medical problems and for medical records to be turned over to her. Chief Judge Roberts denied the motion despite it being stated by the chief medical doctor at Guantanamo, Dr Sollock, that Al-Ghizzawi did not suffer from any ill health on arrival to the base.
Al-Ghizzawi's health has rapidly deteriorated and Cageprisoners calls for the immediate release of his medical records so that adequate medical treatment can be given to the detainee. Spokesman for Cageprisoners and former Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg said,
"That a man who has endured more than half a decade in the world's most infamous prison - without charge or trial - is now infected with the world's most dreaded disease is preposterous. How will the US administration explain this one to his family? More 'robust interrogation techniques'?"
With Al-Ghizzawi's condition as it is, Candace Gorman made the following plea,
Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
American, Uruguyan sentenced for Bolivian hotel blasts
|
Lestat Claudius de Orleans gets escorted by police after his arrest in March 2006 in La Paz, Bolivia. |
(CNN) -- An American man and a Uruguyan woman were sentenced to prison
Tuesday night for their roles in deadly bombings at two hotels in Bolivia, the Bolivian news agency reported.
The March 2006 blasts at two hotels in La Paz killed two people.
Lestat Claudius de Orleans, 26, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes
of terrorism and murder, according to a report carried by the Bolivian Information Agency.
A court also sentenced Alda Ribero Costa, 47, to prison for her role in the dynamite bombings, the agency said.
The March 2006 explosions at two hotels in the Bolivian capital, La Paz, killed two people and exacerbated tensions between Bolivia and the United States. The news agency did not mention a motive for the bombings.
Washington attorney Paul Wolfe, who represents de Orleans, had raised concerns about a fair trial after Bolivian President Evo Morales made statements about the case.
"The prosecutors are under significant pressure to find [him] guilty because the president of Bolivia publicly announced that he is guilty," Wolfe wrote in an August 2006 letter to Bolivian authorities.
The letter is posted on the Web site of the Foreign Prisoner Support Service, which describes itself as a "volunteer prison advocacy service to families whose loved ones are interned in foreign countries."
Morales spoke out shortly after the bombings nearly two years ago.
"This American was putting bombs in hotels," Morales said, according to an Associated Press report from 2006. "The U.S. government fights terrorism, and they send us terrorists."
The attorney's letter says Morales' comments "endangered the life" of his client.
Click Here for full story
Lestat Claudius de Orleans case Informaiton
|
|
American freed in Nicaragua goes into hiding
|
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (CNN) -- An American man held in a Nicaraguan jail was released Friday and left the country, four days after a court overturned his conviction on charges of murdering his former girlfriend.
Magazine publisher Eric Volz had been sentenced to 30 years.
But Eric Volz "will be in hiding, due to reports of threats against him," his family said in a statement.
"We have reason to believe he is being followed and are taking every precaution to assure his safety."
Volz's family also expressed both enormous relief and worry after his release.
"We are so thankful, so thankful for this gift," his mother said upon arriving in Atlanta, Georgia, from Nicaragua on Friday night. Video Watch Volz's mother describe her feelings »
But Volz is very sick, Maggie Anthony added.
"We're really concerned for his health. And mentally and physically, this past week has been ... just [an] incredible strain on him, on his mind and body," she said.
Volz has kidney stones, according to a family spokeswoman.
Click Here for full story
Eric Volz case Informaiton
|
|
Testing time for forgotten prisoners
| |
MORE than 200 Australians, ranging in age from 16 to 67, will
see in the new year from behind the bars of foreign prison
cells.
There are 213 Australians convicted or awaiting trial on remand
in overseas prisons, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade.
Of those, 105 have been sentenced on narcotics charges,
including three aged just 15, 16 and 17 at the time of their
arrests in Hong Kong and Cambodia.
"Some of them are guilty, some of them are innocent, some of
them are missing," said Martin Hodgson, senior advocate for the
Foreign Prisoner Support Service.
Fifty Australians are being held in jails in Europe, 27 in North
Asia, 56 in South-East Asia, six in the Middle East, 30 in North
America, 16 in South America and 27 in the Pacific.
While a handful of cases, such as Schapelle Corby and the Bali
nine, have received publicity, most of those serving time in
foreign prisons never come to public attention.
Click Here for Complete Story
|
|
Pavlova, but no jail cut for Australian Schapelle Corby
|
SCHAPELLE Corby enjoyed her mum's pavlova and received new clothes as gifts, but there was no sentence reduction as the convicted drug trafficker spent her fourth Christmas Day behind bars.
Corby's mother Ros had flown to Bali and was among a small family group who visited Kerobokan Jail yesterday with special food and presents.
However the 30-year-old was not rewarded with a traditional sentence remission.
She was still being punished for an earlier misdemeanour of having a contraband mobile phone.
Members of the Bali Nine heroin trafficking gang, six of whom are on death row, spent their third Christmas in jail.
They had a quiet day, with only a few having family in Bali.
Click Here for full story
Corby's Christmas sentence deal
Schapelle Corby case Informaiton
|
|
Schapelle Corby's life a blur of boredom
|
THE drudgery of Schapelle Corby's daily prison life has changed little in the three years since she was sentenced for drug trafficking.
Every afternoon at 4.30pm she's locked up in a small, stinking-hot cell, crammed in with nine other women for the next 15 hours.
When the cell is opened at 7.30am the women file out for roll call, then spend the next few hours in the confined women's area, where there is nothing to do -- no TV, no video, no sport.
Her only reprieve is to escape to a visit with her family or friends.
Life is hell. And with her fourth Christmas in jail looming, she's not coping well.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Prisoners of conscience unfairly convicted; face possible 10-year prison terms
|
Amnesty International today condemned the convictions of two human rights defenders in Ethiopia on charges of provoking and preparing "outrages against the Constitution", saying that the two men are prisoners of conscience arrested solely for their peaceful human rights work. Both have been held in prison since November 2005.
Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie were convicted today by a majority verdict of the Ethiopian Federal High Court after a trial of over two years. The presiding judge dissented from the guilty verdict passed by the other two judges.
They were acquitted of the main charge of committing “outrages against the Constitution”, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or death. However, on the basis of certain witnesses’ statements which were strongly contested by the defence, they were convicted on the lesser charge of “provocation and preparation” for the offence, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Sentencing will take place on 26 December after the prosecution and defence have made their final submissions.
Click Here for full story
|
|
Thousands of prisoners to be freed or have terms cut
|
Some 25,000 prisoners will have their sentences
reduced or be freed, in a move to celebrate His
Majesty the King's 80th birthday.
Some 85 inmates on death row will see their
sentences commuted to life terms, as part of the mass
clemency in honour of the King. They include Dr Wisut
Boonkasemsanti and Major Chalermchai Matchaklam, who
were both found guilty in high profile murder cases.
"This makes merit in dedication of His Majesty and
also gives convicted inmates a chance to reform,"
Corrections Department directorgeneral Wanchai
Roujanavong said yesterday.
Wanchai said many inmates who had behaved well had
had their sentences reduced.
"More than 10,000 convicts will be released," he
said.
Those being released on royal pardons include
inmates with excellent behaviour and whose remaining
sentence is less than two years, those who have less
than a year left to serve and inmates who have lost
their sight or limbs.
Click Here for full story
Thailand to free 25,000 prisoners to mark king's birthday
Thai king grants pardons for 10,000 jailbirds
|
|
Mauritius jails Aussie drug runner for 28 years
|
An Australian woman has received a 28-year sentence for smuggling heroin worth nearly $1.5 million into Mauritius.
Arrested on arrival from Nairobi in November 2005 with almost 4 kilograms of heroin in her luggage, 52-year-old teacher Susan Dalziel told police she was carrying the packages on behalf of someone else.
She had pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking.
"Having regard to the huge amount of heroin, the manner in which it was hidden and its street value of 40 million Mauritius rupees, I find that she is a trafficker," Judge Paul Lam Shang Leen wrote in his case report.
"I sentence accused to undergo 28 years penal servitude," he wrote, noting that she had been on remand for some two years since the arrest and had no previous criminal record.
Click Here for full story
Pardon plea may free teddy teacher
Susan Dalziel case Information
|
|
Former Australian terror suspect reveals torture in prison
|
Former Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has told a court he was tortured in Egypt and Pakistan.
Testifying at the New South Wales Supreme Court, Mr Habib described receiving electric shocks, being beaten and drugged.
He is giving evidence in his defamation case against Nationwide News, the publisher of the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
A jury found an article in February 2005 defamed Mr Habib, by implying he knowingly made false claims about torture.
The hearing will decide if the newspaper has a defence and whether Mr Habib should be awarded damages.
Click Here for full story
Habib charges contradictory, records show
|
|
Video of Hmong in Jungle by Roger Arnold
|
Roger Arnold, a world renowned photojournalist living in Thailand has been into the jungles of Laos
to film and photograph the remnants of the US Secret War Veterans who are still hiding in the jungles of Laos
(along with their remaining family members).
These Veterans and their families were abandoned by the United States when we left Laos following our Secret War in 1975.
Click Here to view video
|
|
Australia's approving silence on US torture
|
Abu Ghraib'Action in the political field should be considered one of the most effective ways of bringing about a more just social order' — Pedro Arrupe SJ.
Prime Minister John Howard and his political rival, Labor leader Kevin Rudd, are offering right leadership and new leadership respectively. But evidently neither corresponds to their electoral pitch. There's been little morally 'right' under Howard's watch and Rudd's 'me-tooism' purports nothing new or decent.
Rudd's recent back flip on Labor policy regarding foreign affairs spokesman Robert McClelland's moral comment on the death penalty is hypocrisy given his self-promoting Christian image — Christ himself was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and the sublime victim of the death penalty. As Pax Christi director, David Robinson, states, 'Christ is being crucified today through the practice of torture.'
Leadership is the present pre-election focus and Australians are challenged to deem what essential human qualities and skills are required to govern well so that as a nation we can walk proud. Rather than pampered politicians, for exemplars I turn to Jesuit Fr Steve Kelly, and Franciscan Fr Louis Vitale, who were sentenced this 17 October to five months imprisonment for trespass at the Army's main interrogation training facility, Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
Fathers Kelly and Vitale's non-violent protest against the practice of torture by US military and intelligence and their subsequent imprisonment went virtually unnoticed by the press. On 19 November 2006, they attempted to give a letter protesting against the practice of torture to the Fort Huachuca commander, Major General Barbara Fast. Fast was formerly the head of intelligence for the US command in Baghdad and in charge of interrogators at Abu Graib where prisoners were physically, psychologically and sexually tortured.
Click Here to read whole story
|
|
MSF calls for UN access on Hmong (AFP, AP, etc)
|
UN access urged for Hmong refugees in Thailand
Agence France-Presse 31-10-07
BANGKOK - Thailand must allow the United Nations
access to thousands of ethnic minority Hmong who fled
Laos, many of whom are suffering mental problems
caused by fear, a leading medical charity said
Wednesday.
About 7,800 Hmong are currently living in an
informal refugee camp in Thailand's northern
Phetchabun province.
The Thai government has said it plans to deport
them, despite the Hmongs' claim that they face
persecution by the Laos authorities.
Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said at
least half the Hmong in the camp were probably
economic migrants, as the Thai government claims, but
said the UN must be allowed to determine who were
genuine refugees.
Click Here for Complete Story
Medical aid agency urges Thailand to halt repatriation of 8,000 Hmong to Laos
MSF: Don't force the Hmong back
|
|
Aussie facing death in Bali
|
Barry Hess: Arrested and charged after police found hashish and marijuana in his Kuta home.
Photo: AFP |
A 50-YEAR-OLD executive from Melbourne could face the death penalty in Bali after prosecutors decided to charge him with trafficking marijuana and hashish.
Barry Hess, a former Ansett executive and general manager of Bali's collapsed airline Air Paradise, was arrested last month after police allegedly found 14.4 grams of |
|