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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: German man arrested in Bali for cocaine possession

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Indonesian customs said Saturday they have arrested a German man for allegedly trafficking cocaine onto the resort island of Bali.

Hans Peter Naumann, 48, had flown from Bangkok to Bali on an Air Asia flight before he was caught around midday Friday, officials said.

He could be charged with drug trafficking, for which the maximum penalty is a death sentence and 10 billion rupiah (S$1.06 million) fine, Bali customs official Djarot Utomo said.

"He admitted that he was only a courier," and would get US$5,000 (S$6,371) as payment, Utomo said.

Airport authorities spotted Naumann looking pale and acting suspiciously upon his arrival so decided to conduct a body search.

They found 11 capsules containing 201 grams (7 ounces) of cocaine in his underwear as well as six capsules weighing 38 grams of the drugs he had swallowed, Utomo said.

The German embassy in Jakarta could not immediately be reached for comment.

Foreigners are regularly caught with drugs on Bali and a death sentence can be imposed on those found trying to smuggle drugs weighing more than 5 grams onto the popular holiday island.

British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death in January last year after cocaine with an estimated street value of $2.4 million was found in her suitcase as she arrived on a flight from Bangkok.

Source: asiaone.com, Sept. 27, 2014
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