Grandmother freed on pardon (BKK)

Drug smuggler pardoned


A Wainuiomata(NZ) grandmother jailed for attempting to smuggle$4 million worth of heroin out of Thailand has been pardoned and freed, 11 years into a 35-year sentence.


Phyllis Tarawhiti told The Dominion Post yesterday that she thought she would never be freed, and when her royal pardon came through she felt numb.

"I still haven't gotten used to the fact I'm free," she said. "I'm glad to be home, my family's glad I'm home, and everybody's just over the moon."

The mother of three was arrested at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport in 1995, aged 38, with 250 grams of heroin strapped to her body. Her death sentence was commuted to 50 years' jail after she pleaded guilty, and was later reduced to 35 years on appeal.

She served her sentence in Lad Yao Women's Prison - known facetiously as "the Bangkok Hilton".

A New Zealand lawyer who visited her there in 2003 described the prison as "terrible, harsh, and grossly, grossly crowded". Prisoners have to buy their own essentials, such as toilet paper and much of their food.

After visiting her in 2005, her father, Joe, dismissed the prospect of an early release as "probably just a dream".

A Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry spokesman said Tarawhiti was freed on January 26 after Thai authorities accepted a pardon application supported by the New Zealand Government. She arrived in New Zealand on February 3 and is staying with family in Auckland.

After 12 years away, she said it would take her a while to adjust to life in New Zealand. "I need some time just to feel like I'm free - try and get that other place out of my head."

Traditionally, Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej grants pardons on his birthday or other auspicious occasions, such as the anniversary of his ascension to the throne. Tarawhiti's pardon was a one-off release and not part of a larger batch.

At her trial in 1996, Tarawhiti told the Thai criminal court she had fallen into drug smuggling after a relationship break-up and feared losing her home. She stood to gain $15,000 from smuggling the drugs.

A group of conspirators were later convicted in New Zealand for their parts in setting her up as a drug courier.
[the dominion post (NZ)]