Danish diplomat taken aback by sentence

Johanne Vinther Axelsen, 55, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cambodia for trying to send codeine pills out of the country.

A 15-year sentence for a Danish woman is out of all proportion according to Denmark's leading diplomat in Cambodia.

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Politiken.dk (Denmark)

Denmark's leading diplomat in Cambodia says he has been taken aback by the 15-year sentence handed down to 55-year-old Johanne Vinther Axelsen, who has been found guilty of trying to send 10,761 codeine pills out of the country.

"We simply don't understand the sentence and we don't yet know what the sentence is based on," Tom Barthel Hansen, Head of the Danish Representation Office in Pnom Penh tells politiken.dk.

His office had envisaged a maximum penalty of between two and five years.

"15 years in prison is out of all proportion," Hansen says.

Codeine
Johanne Vinther Axelsen was arrested at a post office in Cambodia last year as she attempted to mail a large number of codeine pills to the United States and Canada for her son, who lives in Cambodia.

"They became suspicious at the post office and she was arrested. It may be the number of pills involved that has given rise to the heavy sentence," says Tom Barthel Hansen.

Nonetheless he remains puzzled, as codeine pills are freely available at Cambodian pharmacies without a prescription.

Dane Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison In Cambodia

2009-01-15
ScandAsia.Denmark

A Cambodian court Thursday sentenced a Danish woman to 15 years in prison for allegedly trying to mail thousands of over-the-counter painkillers out of the country.

Johanne Axelexen Vinther, 45, was arrested at a post office in the capital Phnom Penh last year as she tried to send 10,761 tablets containing codeine in packages to the U.S. and Canada.

The drugs can be easily bought at street-side pharmacies throughout Phnom Penh, but are restricted in most Western countries.

Chhay Kong, a judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said Vinther was guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced her to 15 years in jail.

The judge also ordered Vinther to pay a fine of $7,500.

Chhay Kong also sentenced a 28-year-old son of Vinther in absentia to 15 years behind bars and ordered him to pay a fine of the same amount.

Vinther denied she smuggled the drug, calling the verdict against her and her son "unjust."

"I did not commit any crimes. They (judges) don't even know what codeine is. They compare it to heroin. It was never heroin. It is not a hard drug," she said after the court hearing.

"It is something for the pain - painkillers."

Vinther said she would appeal against the verdict within a month and would even seek a "royal pardon" from Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni.

Impoverished Cambodia is becoming an increasingly popular trafficking point for methamphetamines and heroin, particularly since neighboring Thailand toughened its stance against illegal drugs in 2002.

However, arrests for violations involving pharmaceuticals are much less common.