Australian pleads guilty to heroin charges
by Daniel Pedersen on Mar.26, 2009, under Bangkok, Thailand reportage
The Courier Mail
June 7, 2001
Bangkok
AUSTRALIAN Holly Deane-Johns, 29, yesterday pleaded guilty in a Thai court to exporting heroin, conspiracy to export heroin and possession of heroin.
Having thrown herself at the mercy of the Thai judicial system at the earliest possible opportunity, she is now in limbo.
It could be years before she is sentenced, because her co-accused, New South Welshman Brian Halliwell, 55, will contest the charges against him.
Because the pair was charged together, Deane-Johns will not be sentenced until Halliwell’s case has been decided.
Given the snail’s pace at which Thai court proceedings creep, that could take years.
The pair was arrested in August last year in Bangkok.
Fellow Australian and volunteer prisoners advocate Susan Aldous said there were already Australians in the Thai court system who had been fighting drug charges for more than four years.
During a lull in yesterday’s court proceedings Deane-Johns urged Halliwell to enter a guilty plea.
Halliwell is charged with possession of more than 100gm of heroin and could face a death sentence if found guilty.
The longer the case drags on the more likely he is to receive such a sentence.
One hope for Deane-Johns is a treaty that is likely to be formalised later this month between Australia and Thailand.
The agreement will allow Australian prisoners to be transferred home after a period of incarceration. The same will go for Thais serving time in Australia.
Once signed, it will probably take another 12 months before the first of the prisoners will be considered for the transfer scheme, at which time a long assessment period would begin.
And it is likely the Thai authorities will demand any prisoner serve at least four to eight years of their sentence in Thailand before using the agreement.
After yesterday’s proceedings both prisoners were returned to their respective prisons.
For Deane-Johns it marked the beginning of what promises to be a long and agonising wait.
ENDS
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