A court in Vietnam has sentenced an Australian man of Vietnamese origin to death by firing squad and two Vietnamese women to life in jail for trafficking heroin, state media reported on Saturday. The Tuoi Tre newspaper said the man, 45-year-old Nguyen Van Chinh, received the death sentence by Ho Chi Minh City People's Court at a trial on Friday while a third Vietnamese woman was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
The court heard that Chinh and the three accomplice had sent heroin abroad many times. The paper gave no timeframe for the offence. The convicted have 15 days to appeal the verdict.
Two Vietnamese women who were sentenced to life in prison are Le Thi Hong, 59, and Huynh Thi Anh Dao, 56. The third woman who got the 200-year term is Tran Thi Tuyet, 41.