A Change of Guard

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Friday, 16 January 2009

Jutland woman jailed in Cambodia

15 year sentence for Jutland woman attempting to send pain killers from Cambodia to the US

A Danish woman has been sentenced to 15 years in a Cambodian jail for trying to export pain relief medication. Her 28-year-old son, whose whereabouts is unknown, was also sentenced in absentia to 15 years imprisonment. Both were also ordered to pay a fine of 42,500 kroner.

The Danish consular representative in Cambodia is now trying to appeal the sentence handed down to 45-year-old Johanne Vinther Axelsen, from Sindal in North Jutland. The chief Danish official in Cambodia, Tom Barthel Hansen called the sentence highly unfair.

‘Cambodian law was violated, but we are not talking about hard drugs and we are puzzled by the very harsh sentence. Normally the time frame for sentences is two to four years. We are now trying to find out why she got 15 years,’ said Hansen to bt.dk.

Axelsen was arrested in April 2007 at a post office in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. She had gone to visit her son Niels who had been living in the country for four years as he studied martial arts. His mother delivered a package to the post office that contained 10,761 codeine and valium pills destined for the United States.

‘She had no idea it was illegal,’ said her brother Claus Allan Vinther Axelsen, ‘she just thought it was a smart way for her son to earn a little extra pocket money.’

Since her arrest, Johanne has been sitting in a cramped Cambodian jail for women and children. She told a local reporter that they were ‘crammed together like sardines’ and locked up for 20 hours a day. She said she is doing whatever it takes to appeal her sentence and is willing to seek a 'royal pardon' from Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni.

The Foreign Ministry has been made aware of the case, but local officials said the appeals process could take some time.

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