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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Indonesia: Executed drug trafficker Andrew Chan's ministry still going

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Matthew Norman
Matthew Norman
ANDREW Chan's ministry in Bali's Kerobokan prison is continuing, five months after his execution.

Caloundra's Barbara Pugh, who first met the convicted drug trafficker Chan in 2008, went back to the prison last month with History Maker church Pastor Sharon Tan.

She said she was encouraged his church was "going strong" and was now being led by another Bali Nine member, Matthew Norman.

Norman, the youngest member of the Bali Nine, is serving a life sentence for his role in the smuggling of heroin, which saw Chan and Myuran Sukumaran receive the death sentence.

"Things are going strong there," Mrs Pugh said.

"The church grew under Andrew's leadership, it is continuing now Matthew has taken over.

Andrew Chan (left) and Myuran Sukumaran (right)
Andrew Chan (left) and Myuran Sukumaran (right) 
"He is a different person (to Chan); he is quieter and doesn't have the same charisma."

The song, Bless the Lord of my Soul, Chan and the other doomed prisoners were singing the moment they were shot has become an "anthem" in the prison, she said.

Mrs Pugh first visited the prison in 2007 when on a family holiday to Bali and she went in to visit Schapelle Corby.

"I chatted to Schapelle and then Rob (her husband) was talking to one of the Bali Nine we knew as Jimmy, but is called Si Yi (Chen).

"They really connected. We had a heart for the place.

"The second time we went to the prison in 2008 we met Andrew.

"Just looking at him I thought he was hard core, he had a scar on his head, as if he was attacked by an axe.

"But he had real charisma, he was chatting with everyone.

"I had an opportunity to go to church in the prison, which Andrew led, and it was really powerful."

Source: Sunshine Coast Daily, Kathy Sundstrom, October 14, 2015

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Location: Bali, Indonesia
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