Two condemned to hang for heroin trafficking

Press, 2 August 1985, Page 3

Two condemned to hang for heroin trafficking

NZPA-AAP Penang A Malaysian judge yesterday condemned two Australians, Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, to hang for heroin trafficking under a stern law designed to combat widespread heroin smuggling and addiction in Malaysia. They were the first Westerners sentenced according to the 1983 law making death the mandatory sentence for trafficking in more than 15 grams of heroin or morphine. Singapore and Brunei have identical laws. The trial and sentencing formed a precedent for the trials later of a Sydney

clerk, Michael McAuliffe, aged 30, and a New Zea-land-born woman, Lorraine Cohen, aged 42, and her son, Aaron, aged 19. They are the only Westerners on remand in Penang for allegedly trafficking heroin since the mandatory death penalty was introduced. In a short and unemotional statement, the Judge said the law did not allow a lighter sentence. “The laws of Malaysia make no distinction . with regard to nationality, colour, or race of the offender ... in the present case the offence was committed in Malaysia. “It is unfortunate that the

two accused are Australians.” The Judge last Friday convicted the pair in the Penang High Court of jointly trafficking in 180 grams of pure heroin hidden in a bag belonging to Chambers but carried by Barlow when they were arrested at Penang Airport on November 9, 1983. The prosecutor suggested that Chambers was the organiser and Barlow his courier. Lawyers for Barlow, aged 27, an Adelaide welder, and Chambers, aged 28, a Perth businessman, immediately lodged notice of appeal to the Supreme Court, which

can quash the conviction or order a retrial. From there they can appeal only to a Pardons Board which can find extenuating grounds for commuting the sentence, or pardoning the two, their lawyers said. The trial was conducted “with meticulous care for fairness and legal procedure” according to an Australian High Commission' official. However, the defendants and relatives attending the trial earlier called it sloppy and conducted without adequate police investigations or standards of Australian justice.