Rachel
03-31-2005, 12:54 AM
SINGAPORE (AP)
A German woman who narrowly escaped being hanged for a drug conviction in Singapore will be released on July 15 after her five-year sentence was reduced for good behavior, her lawyer said Wednesday. Julia Suzanne Bohl's arrest in March 2002 provoked international concern because the charges she originally faced carried a mandatory death sentence. But the charges were reduced after authorities said the drugs found in her Singapore apartment were not as pure as originally thought.
Bohl, 26, was convicted of consuming the drug ketamine, and possessing marijuana and other drugs, as well as allowing her apartment to be used for narcotics trafficking. She was accused of belonging to a ring that supplied drugs to nightspots in the city-state. Her case focused international media attention on Singapore's tough drug laws.
Bohl's lawyer, Subhas Anandan, said he visited her at Changi Women's Prison last week.
"She's doing OK, she's all right," he said. "She's currently doing a course in prison at the London School of Economics in economics and social science."
Anandan said that Bohl might continue her studies next year in Germany or Britain after she completes her prison term. He said one-third of her sentence was reduced for good behavior.
At her sentencing in June 2002, Bohl said in a written statement read by Anandan that she felt deep shame.
"I deeply regret what I've done, especially as I'm a guest in this country," Bohl said.
Marijuana, as well as the nightclub drugs ketamine, ecstasy and a smokeable form of methamphetamine known as "ice" were found in an apartment leased by Bohl, who has been living in this Southeast Asian city-state since 1995.
Bohl, a German citizen, was born in the Netherlands and raised in Karlsruhe, Germany.
A German woman who narrowly escaped being hanged for a drug conviction in Singapore will be released on July 15 after her five-year sentence was reduced for good behavior, her lawyer said Wednesday. Julia Suzanne Bohl's arrest in March 2002 provoked international concern because the charges she originally faced carried a mandatory death sentence. But the charges were reduced after authorities said the drugs found in her Singapore apartment were not as pure as originally thought.
Bohl, 26, was convicted of consuming the drug ketamine, and possessing marijuana and other drugs, as well as allowing her apartment to be used for narcotics trafficking. She was accused of belonging to a ring that supplied drugs to nightspots in the city-state. Her case focused international media attention on Singapore's tough drug laws.
Bohl's lawyer, Subhas Anandan, said he visited her at Changi Women's Prison last week.
"She's doing OK, she's all right," he said. "She's currently doing a course in prison at the London School of Economics in economics and social science."
Anandan said that Bohl might continue her studies next year in Germany or Britain after she completes her prison term. He said one-third of her sentence was reduced for good behavior.
At her sentencing in June 2002, Bohl said in a written statement read by Anandan that she felt deep shame.
"I deeply regret what I've done, especially as I'm a guest in this country," Bohl said.
Marijuana, as well as the nightclub drugs ketamine, ecstasy and a smokeable form of methamphetamine known as "ice" were found in an apartment leased by Bohl, who has been living in this Southeast Asian city-state since 1995.
Bohl, a German citizen, was born in the Netherlands and raised in Karlsruhe, Germany.