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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Indonesia lightly cuts 2 Australians' prison terms

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Bali's Kerobokan prison
Bali's Kerobokan prison
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia cut some time off the prison terms of 7,300 inmates, including two Australian women convicted of drug smuggling, a media report said Saturday.

Holiday remissions are traditional in Indonesia for some inmates with good behavior, except those on death row or serving life in prison.

The official Antara news agency quoted Patrialis Akbar, minister of the law and human rights, as saying 7,324 prisoners received sentence reductions ranging from 15 days to two months.

Australians Schapelle Leigh Corby and Renae Lawrence, who are serving 20-year terms in Bali, had their sentences slashed by 45 days each, Antara reported.

Corby, who was a former beauty student was convicted in May 2005 of smuggling 9 pounds (4.2 kilograms) of marijuana onto the resort island. Now 33, she asked for clemency in March, citing her poor mental state.

Lawrence, also 33, is one of nine Australians found guilty in April 2005 of attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin. Six were sentenced to death and two others were given life imprisonment.

"We indeed proposed the Christmas remissions for both Corby and Lawrence because they have met the precondition," Siswanto, chief of Kerobokan penitentiary in Bali, told Antara.

Four other foreign inmates there also had their sentence slashed, Siswanto said without elaborating. There among 30 foreign inmates and 19 other foreigners who've been detained in Bali.

Source: AP, December 25, 2010
Location: Bali, Indonesia
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