Australia demands answers from Laos over methanol poisoning ‘injustice’
While 10 were convicted of destroying evidence, not a single person has been charged in connection with the deaths of two Melbourne teens
Melbourne teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, died after drinking methanol-tainted alcohol at Nana Backpackers Hostel. Two Danish women, a US tourist and a British woman, also died.
In January, a court in Laos found 10 workers at the hostel guilty of destroying evidence, handing down suspended sentences and nominal fines. The convictions were reportedly tied to the death of the American victim, with no one charged in connection with the other deaths.
The outcome triggered anger in Australia after the families of Jones and Bowles revealed they had learned of the hearings not from officials in Canberra but through a group chat set up by relatives of British victim Simone White.