Cambodia upholds drug sentences for 3 foreigners

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A Cambodian appeals court on Tuesday upheld the prison terms of a Frenchwoman, an Australian woman and a Nigerian man for trying to smuggle heroin to Australia.

Judge Pol Sam Ouen said the sentences given by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in May 2014 to then-19-year-old Frenchwoman Charlene Savarino, 41-year-old Ann Yoshe Taylor of Australia and 23-year-old Precious Chneme Nwoko of Nigeria were correct and accorded with the law.

The lower court had sentenced Savarino to 25 years in prison, Taylor to 23 years and Nwoko to 27 years.

Savarino and Taylor were arrested in September 2013 at Phnom Penh International Airport after police found 2.2 kilograms (4.8 pounds) of heroin in Taylor’s luggage as they prepared to fly together to Australia. Nwoko, Savarino’s boyfriend, was believed to have masterminded the smuggling and asked Savarino to make the arrangements.

Cambodia is not a major producer of illegal drugs but has increasingly become a smuggling transit route.

Khieu Vann, the lawyer for Taylor, told reporters that the appeals court’s decision was an injustice and that he would consult with his client to see if she wished to appeal to the Supreme Court.