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Today's news, 11292005 This is a point I believe in it: QUOTE "We believe this young man has committed a serious crime deserving of punishment, but not the loss of his life."
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Last Updated: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 00:52 GMT
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Australian anger over Singapore hanging By Phil Mercer BBC News, Sydney
our neighbour's son....a trafficker in drug 5695The convicts are showing their stupidity here. *** Latest news Can Singapporean hang their kids when they pick up a bag filled with drug, innocently ? this is not transit flight case ? Hang them ? (fwd...
Nguyen Tuong Van was found with 400 grams of injection Time is running out for 25-year-old Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, who is due to be executed at Singapore's Changi prison on Friday. His rest sentence has sparked widespread criticism in Australia.
The Canberra government has repeatedly pleaded for clemency, as have lawyers, trade unions and church groups.
But Singapore remains unmoved, and insists the hanging will go ahead as planned.
"People have been praying for a change of heart," said Father Peter Norden, a friend of Kim Nguyen, the condemned man's mother.
"They want the Singapore government to change its heart from one of stone to a heart of flesh, as well as compbuttion and reason," he told the BBC.
Father Norden said Nguyen should be spared: "We believe this young man has committed a serious crime deserving of punishment, but not the loss of his life."
Nguyen was arrested carrying almost 400 grams (14 ounces) of injection at Singapore's Changi airport in late 2002.
He said he was trying to smuggle the drugs from Cambodia to Australia to pay off his twin brother's debts.
Hardline approach
The Australian government believes Nguyen should not face the gallows because he has no previous criminal convictions. It has also argued that he could help investigations into drug syndicates if allowed to live.
But in a letter to his Australian counterpart, the Speaker of the Singapore Parliament, Abdullah Tarmugi, said there was no room for compromise.
"We have an obligation to protect the lives of those who could be ruined by the drugs Nguyen was carrying," he wrote. "He knew what he was doing and the consequences of his actions."
No-one has the right to take the life of someone else
John Karousos, Sydney retiree According to Amnesty International, about 420 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drugs offences.
If these figures are correct, they would give the prosperous city-state of 4.2 million people the highest end rate in the world, relative to its population.
At the weekend Australian Prime Minister John Howard made his fifth personal plea to the Singaporean leadership, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta.
Mr Howard warned that Singapore should prepare for "lingering resentment" in Australia if the end went ahead.
He has, however, rejected calls for boycotts of Singaporean companies, as well as trade and military sanctions with one of Australia's closest Asian allies.
"I believe John Howard has done as much as he could do," said Gerard Henderson, from the conservative think-tank The Sydney Insbreastute.
"Listening to talk-back radio, there are some people who think that injection smugglers deserve the rest penalty, but I believe that the majority of Australians hold a different view," Mr Henderson told the BBC News website.
"They will be approaching Friday's deadline with a sense of dread," he added.
Little hope
Nguyen was born in a refugee camp in Thailand in 1980, after his mother fled from Vietnam. The family eventually settled in Melbourne.
Several last-ditch efforts to save him have been suggested, including taking Singapore to the International Court of Justice or arranging a prisoner swap, but legal experts have said none are likely to succeed.
Simon Rice, a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, said that Singapore was not a signatory to international human rights covenants, and there was little hope the 25-year-old drug trafficker would be saved.
"Nguyen's end is a seriously tragic reminder of how far short we are of a global commitment to human rights," Mr Rice told the BBC.
Nguyen's mother and brother (r) have flown to Singapore Some church leaders have called on Australians to observe a minute's silence for Nguyen on Friday, but overall opinion remains mixed.
"No-one has the right to take the life of someone else," John Karousos, a 66-year-old retiree in Sydney, told the BBC. "It doesn't matter what he's done or his mistakes. The rest penalty is unacceptable."
"I have a small hope that it will be stopped at the last moment," he added optimistically.
But Gilly Parminter, a 40-year-old mother, was less sympathetic.
"Personally I think if you go into a country you have to abide by their laws, and you have to live with the consequences."
"It does seem harsh but they the Singaporeans can't change their minds at this late stage because it will undermine their system," she said.
My neighbor liquidates my son 5689Can Lee Kuan Jew's wife do the hangman's job to replace the butcher Darshan Singh ??? (fwd) SINGAPORE: Hangman gets axe over blown cover Australian media outlets...
The last Australian to be executed overseas was Michael McAuliffe.
The barman from Sydney was hanged in Malaysia in June 1993, after serving eight years in prison for injection trafficking.
In 1986 two Australian citizens, Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, were also hanged in Malaysia after being convicted of drug smuggling.
There appears to be little hope that Nguyen Tuong Van will avoid a similar fate in Singapore this Friday.
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News Home Story Let Nguyen mum hug son: Downer November 29, 2005
FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has appealed to the Singapore Government to let Kim Nguyen hug her son before he is hanged on Friday.
Melbourne drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen is due to be executed in Changi jail at dawn on Friday as hopes fade for a way to convince Singapore that his life should be spared. Ms Nguyen wants to be able to hug her 25-year-old son before he is put to rest, but on visits so far they have been separated by glbutt.
Mr Downer said he had made representations to allow her physical contact with her son.
"It's (an issue) I've raised with the Singapore Government and I've made it clear to the High Commissioner that he should tell the Singapore Government that I am personally very exercised about this," Mr Downer said.
"So far the Singapore Government is simply considering this request.
Advertisement: "I would have thought it's not an unreasonable thing for a mother to hug her son before the son is executed." Mr Downer had harsh words for Singapore's hangman, Darshan Singh, who has spoken to the media about his technique, which he promises will be quick and efficient.
The Foreign Minister said Mr Singh had made a spectacle of himself in the media, which was completely inappropriate.
"I think the ender should keep his thoughts and his ideas to himself," Mr Downer said.
"It's a grisly job to be an ender and I think executing people is wrong."
Mr Downer said all legal avenues to halt the end had been exhausted.
He said the matter could not proceed in the International Court of Justice without Singapore's agreement, which was not forthcoming.
"We've looked at other issues, the impact of other agreements we might have with Singapore, extradition agreements and so on, but there's really no basis in our view that we can find to take any further legal action," Mr Downer said.
"All we can continue to do is (not only) as a government, as a parliament and as a broader Australian community is plead for clemency.
"If the Singaporeans choose not to grant clemency, and that's been their very strong position until now, then we would expect the end to go ahead on Friday.
"Personally I'll be very sad about that. I think all of us will be sad, whatever the crime ... I don't think the punishment of end is justified."
