21 February 2003 :

Six drug traffickers were sentenced to death in southern Vietnam as part of the government's long-running campaign to wipe out the narcotics trade.
The People's Court in the southern province of An Giang handed down the sentences after a five day hearing.
The six men were found guilty of trafficking nearly 40 kilogrammes of heroin and around 1,000 ecstasy tablets into Vietnam from Cambodia between 1998 and 2000, a court official said.
They have 15 days to appeal their death sentences, but Vietnam's heavily politicised courts, the target of much criticism from international human rights groups, rarely overturn initial sentences.
Two other male members of the drug network, which was broken up by police in October 2000, were jailed for life, while two men and one woman received prison terms ranging from three to 16 years.
The An Giang court official was unable to say when the six men would face the firing squad. Prisoners condemned to death are usually kept on death row for at least a year before being executed.
Vietnam launched its campaign against drug trafficking in 1997 and in 2001 tightened its laws to make anyone found in possession of 300 grams or more of heroin, or over 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of opium, liable for execution.