Barlow and Chambers execution
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The Barlow and Chambers execution refers to the hanging in 1986 by Malaysia of two Australian citizens, Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers, for the drug trafficking of 141.9g of heroin.
The two men became the first Westerners to be executed under Malaysia's new tougher laws for drug offences. The executions caused public outcry and strained political relations between Australia and Malaysia at the time.
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[edit] Arrests and trial
Barlow and Chambers were both arrested at Bayan Lepas International Airport on November 9, 1983. They had met just weeks before their arrest. Each accused the other of ownership of the heroin located in Chambers' suitcase which Barlow was carrying when apprehended. They were sentenced by the High Court of Penang on August 1, 1985 and later hanged in Pudu Prison on July 7, 1986.
[edit] Political statements
The Australian Prime Minister at the time, Bob Hawke, made a passionate plea for a stay of execution on behalf of the two men. He later described the hanging as "barbaric", a remark which infuriated the Malaysian prime minister Mahathir bin Mohamad and led to an aggressive Anti-Australian sentiment in Malaysia.
[edit] Aftermath
- A four-hour television mini-series was released in 1988 entitled Barlow and Chambers: A Long Way From Home (Dadah is Death).
- A 2004 Canadian/Quebecois movie, Manners Of Dying, directed by Jeremy Peter Allen, refers to the executions through the name of its main character.
[edit] See also
- List of Australian criminals
- List of Australians in international prisons
- List of famous drug smugglers
[edit] External links
- Dadah Is Death at the Internet Movie Database
- Australia and the Death Penalty
- Drugs a threat to society: Malaysian PM, The Age, February 22, 2006
