Fed: Vietnamese community wary of court's fairness

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Fed: Vietnamese community wary of court's fairness

The Vietnamese community has expressed deep concern over the death sentence handeddown to an Australian woman convicted of drug trafficking.

Sydney woman LE MY LINH was arrested in Vietnam last November on charges of possessingheroin and other drugs.

A Vietnamese court yesterday sentenced the 43-year-old to death by firing squad.

Vietnamese Community in Australia federal president TRUNG DOAN says the judicial systemin Vietnam is so unfair it's difficult to tell if LE is actually guilty.

Mr TRUNG says Foreign Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER's prompt public comments on the caseare heartening.

Mr DOWNER has written to his Vietnamese counterpart to express Australia's total oppositionto the death penalty, in the hope of commuting LE's sentence to life imprisonment.

AAP RTV kjp/daw/rk/rp

KEYWORD: LE COMMUNITY (CANBERRA)