Slim chance Japanese will escape Malaysian death penalty: lawyer

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia, May 6 Kyodo - The lawyer for a Japanese woman who faces a mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking in Malaysia said Friday she is unlikely to escape a death sentence.
As Mariko Takeuchi, 36, took the stand in her defense for the first time, her lawyer Sallehuddin Saidin told reporters and officials from the Japanese embassy following her trial ''the chance of her to win is very slim. At this stage, it is only her words against them.''
Takeuchi is the only defense witness.
Shah Alam High Court Judge Siti Mariah Ahmad in November last year ruled Takeuchi had a case to answer.
She found the prosecution ''succeeded in establishing a prima facie case'' after hearing testimony from six witnesses, mainly customs and forensics officials.
Takeuchi was arrested Oct. 31, 2009 for attempting to smuggle 3.5 kilograms of methamphetamine into the country through Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
She had just landed from Dubai and the drugs were found hidden in a secret compartment inside a suitcase.
Under Malaysian law, anyone possessing a minimum of 50 grams of methamphetamine is considered to be trafficking in a dangerous drug, which is punishable by death.
Takeuchi, the first Japanese national to have been charged with trafficking, told the court she had no knowledge of the drugs and was doing an acquaintance a favor by bringing the suitcase to Malaysia.
The former nurse who said she was earning 400,000 yen a month working at a clinic in Tokyo's Shinjuku, claimed she went to Dubai in October 2009 as a favor to a colleague who wanted her to talk to ''Alex,'' the colleague's boyfriend, to see if he would help her out of financial difficulties
Takeuchi said Alex's driver asked her to deliver a suitcase to Malaysia after learning she would be transiting there on her way back to Tokyo.
She said she had to transit Malaysia as there was no direct flight between Tokyo and Dubai.
The driver, who was allegedly to fly to Malaysia the same day on a separate flight, had claimed he had too much baggage and asked Takeuchi to take the suitcase.
''Because he was Alex's friend and he showed me the contents of the bag, I trusted him,'' she said through an interpreter. ''I did not suspect anything as I saw only clothes in the bag.''
At one point, Takeuchi broke down when narrating she was detained and tried to communicate in English with Malaysian custom officers that the suitcase did not belong to her.
In his cross-examination, chief prosecutor Gan Peng Kun questioned why Takeuchi entered Malaysia six times in September and October 2009.
''It is because my discussion with Alex did not bring the desired results so I had to fly to-and-fro between Dubai and Malaysia,'' Takeuchi said.
She had earlier told the court Alex had offered to give her colleague 200,000 yen, but that was too little.
''Wouldn't you agree that the cost of you staying in Dubai would be less than the cost of the flights you took?'' Gan asked.
But Takeuchi insisted it was cheaper to fly between Dubai and Malaysia as hotels in Dubai were expensive.
When asked the name of the driver, Takeuchi said she never asked his name even when they went out drinking together.
''I just called him 'driver','' she told the court.
She will continue her testimony Wednesday.