TIMELINE OF A DRUG MULE'S FINAL TRIP

NOVEMBER 2008: South African Janice Linden, 36, is arrested in Guangzhou in China for smuggling into China 3kg of the drug crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride ("ice");

• July 2009: Linden is sentenced to death. She appeals the sentence;
• September 2009: South Africa's consul-general in Shanghai meets the deputy High Court judge in Guangdong Province to raise concerns regarding the death sentence;
• November 2009: The court rules that the death sentence be upheld. The finding is referred to the High Court in Beijing for confirmation;
• November 2009: The South African embassy in Beijing raises its concerns with the Chinese Foreign Ministry;
• March 2010: The South African ambassador meets with the director-general for African affairs in Beijing to appeal for the sentence to be commuted;
• November 2010: The minister of international relations and cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, writes a letter requesting China not to impose the death penalty but to commute Linden's sentence to an appropriate term of imprisonment;
• November 2010: The Chinese minister indicates that the judicial authorities will be informed of South Africa's concerns;
• February 2011: Nkoana-Mashabane again writes to her counterpart to repeat her appeal; and
• November 24 2011: Notification of the ruling, by the High Court in Beijing, that Linden be put to death is received from the People's High Court in Guangdong.