Drug Trafficking In China: Another Australian May Face Death Penalty Overseas

While two Australian men were executed in Indonesia after they had been convicted of smuggling drugs, another Australian man went a step ahead to face the firing squad overseas. It is 25-year-old Peter Gardner from Sydney, who will go on trial in China.

The Sydney man’s case was brought forward by around six months. He will now face the court in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou on Thursday, May 7. Gardner is accused of trying to export 30 kg. of drugs. He was allegedly trying to export methamphetamine, also known as ice.

New Zealand barrister Craig Tuck, who is defending Gardner, said that he did not know why the case had been put on a fast-tracked trial. The accused has dual citizenship in Australia and in New Zealand. His father along with two sisters lives in Sydney.

Customs officials in Guangzhou detained Gardner with Kalynda Davis, an Australian woman, whom he had met through an online dating website only a few weeks before. When their bags were checked, Chinese officials found 60 kg of meth inside with their zips glued shut.

Davis’ China based lawyers argued that she did not have any knowledge of the cargo. They negotiated with Chinese authorities for four weeks. The Australian woman was eventually released.

Her father Larry David said after her release that he had always known that his daughter was innocent. “I prayed every night that the truth would come out, I prayed for the authorities, that it was dealt with in the way that it was dealt with, and our prayers were answered,” he said.

Tuck earlier said that he did not expect that the case would go on trial for the next six months. He said that the trial, which would take place in Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court, would not take more than a couple of days.

There are 17 Australian citizens on death row around the world. According to the Department of Foreign ­Affairs and Trade, those Australians either have received or are charged with crimes carrying the possibility of execution. However, the department has not released the name of the countries where there are detained.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au