Ashley Oosthuizen was convicted on drug charges in Thailand last year and sentenced to life in prison.
The Koh Samui appeal court heard the 23-year-old’s case and reduced her sentence to 33 years.
Oosthuizen was teaching English in the country before she started working at a restaurant that her boyfriend owned. He was an alleged drug dealer, leading to Oosthuizen’s arrest when police raided the restaurant.
She was arrested after signing for a package of contraband for her boyfriend he has since eluded the police who are still searching for him. Oosthuizen was arrested in 2020 and the courts initially handed her the death penalty which was reduced to a life sentence.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) is providing Oosthuizen and her family with consular assistance.
A petition has been launched to gather support for Oosthuizen and her friends and family have taken to social media to raise awareness of her plight. They claim that her former boyfriend, Tristan Nettles, is the real culprit who allegedly fled Thailand and returned to his home in America.
According to Yahoo News, Nettles has allegedly claimed that Oosthuizen was not involved. He had allegedly been shipping contraband in Thailand since September 2020 using his restaurant Hot in the Biscuit.
Oosthuizen has maintained her innocence and claimed that she had no idea what was in the packages she was signing for. She had previously worked as an English teacher before Nettles offered her a position as a manager at the restaurant. Read more: https://briefly.co.za/south-africa/135986-sa-woman-convicted-drug-charges-thailand-life-sentence-slashed/
Photo credit: Ashley Oosthuizen : Facebook
