RP to appeal death sentence in M'sia

RP to appeal death sentence in M'sia

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines will appeal a death sentence imposed
by a Malaysian court on a Filipino sailor caught carrying illegal
drugs, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.

Foreign Undersecretary Jose Brillantes issued urgent
instructions to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to exhaust
all legal means to help Filipino sailor Nelson Diana, who was
sentenced to death by hanging by a Malaysian lower court on
Wednesday, the DFA statement said.

Brillantes told the embassy to ask Diana's court-appointed
lawyer to immediately appeal to the Malaysian Court of Appeals,
the DFA said.

In his report to the department, Philippine Charge d'Affaires
Luis Cruz said police at Kuala Lumpur International Airport found
508.6 grams of cocaine inside Diana's briefcase when he arrived
at the airport on Aug. 22, 2002, for a connecting flight to
Bangkok, Thailand.

Under Malaysian law, possession of more than 40 grams of
illegal drugs is considered drug trafficking, a crime that
carries a mandatory death penalty. --AP