CANADIANS COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG CHARGES IN VIETNAM

HO CHI MINH CITY - Two Canadians could face the death penalty in Vietnam
for possession of the drug ecstasy.

Randy Sachs and Nguyen Van Hai were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City last May
for allegedly possessing 1,000 tablets of ecstasy.

An investigation is underway and formal charges have not yet been filed. It
is not known if the death penalty will be asked for in this case, but
Vietnam has imposed harsh sentences for drug trafficking in the past and
routinely executes people who deal drugs.

Canadian national Nguyen Thi Hiep was shot in 2000 for trying to smuggle
five kilograms of heroin. The 43-year-old woman and her 75-year-old mother,
Tran Thi Cam, were imprisoned in Vietnam in 1996 for allegedly trying to
smuggle the heroin out of the country hidden in pieces of folk art.

Amnesty International says at least one-third of all executions in the
country are for drug offences.

The human rights group says Ottawa must press Vietnam to exempt the two
from a death penalty.

"The dramatic rise in the reported use of the death penalty in 2003 for
crimes including economic offences is of grave concern and unjustified,"
said Amnesty International in a report on its website.

"In just the first week of 2004, six people have already been executed and
three sentenced to death."