Dec 05, 2024 (ABC News) - A two-year legal battle has ended with an Australian grandmother being found guilty of smuggling drugs into Japan, but her family say their fight is far from over.
Perth Indigenous community leader Donna Nelson was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in jail for importing 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Japan in January last year.
Here are the events that culminated in her conviction, and how Nelson's family now plan to continue to support the woman they maintain is not a criminal.
Her defence team told Nelson's trial in a Japanese court last week the 58-year-old had travelled to Japan to meet a man known only as Kelly, with whom she had met and formed a relationship with online over a two-year period.
On the way she stopped over in Laos, where she almost abandoned the trip after she became sick, ending up paying for a hotel, despite being told Kelly would pay.
"I've cried too much and spent my last money to get this room for tonight. If this is how a wife is treated, I don't want to be married," she said at the time.
But Kelly convinced her to stay, she said, telling her an associate would give her a suitcase to take with her on her journey to Tokyo Airport.
Nelson said she believed the case was a sample item for Kelly's fashion business, and had no knowledge of the drugs that were later found at the bottom of the bag. ...continue reading
