Melbourne, January 27: The Australian government has confirmed that an Australian man, convicted of murder in Afghanistan, has been sentenced to death in the war-torn country.
Robert Langdon, 38, a former soldier from South Australia, was originally found guilty last October of killing an Afghan security guard by shooting him and then accusing the Taliban for the crime.
“The Australian Government will make high-level representations to Afghan authorities to oppose the imposition of the death penalty, and vigorously support any clemency bids in this case,” said a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Wednesday.
“We have been consulting closely with Mr Langdon’s lawyers and his employer about appropriate representations in this case,” he added. “This is consistent with the Australian Government’s strong opposition to the use of the death penalty.”
Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has promised to intervene in the case of the former soldier.
Rudd claimed, however, that Australia must first allow the legal appeals process to play out and that he did not want to prejudice that outcome.
“We as the government always intervene in support of any Australian citizen who has been convicted of a capital offence,” Rudd told Perth radio.
Observers, though, argue whether the top Australian officials would demonstrate such concerns if a foreign national committed a murder in Australia.
——Agencies