Nguyen lawyer savages rest penalty
From correspondents in Singapore
November 30, 2005
THE lead lawyer for condemned trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen today stepped up the pressure for the Melbourne man to be allowed to hug his mother before his Friday end in Singapore. Lex Lasry QC also launched a blistering attack on city-state's use of the mandatory rest penalty regime as he arrived for a final meeting with Nguyen.
"It shouldn't require a legal loophole for Nguyen to allowed to touch his mother before he goes to the gallows," Mr Lasry said after flying in at 10.30pm local time, (1am AEDT).
"It should simply be a matter of ordinary humanity that Singapore authorities surely must see that they have to be allowed to touch each other," he said.
Mr Lasry was speaking at Changi Airport, the same hub where Nguyen was arrested in December 2002 carrying almost 400 grams of injection.
After all appeals for clemency from Canberra have failed, Nguyen faces the gallows at dawn on Friday.
Nguyen, 25, has received a stream of visitors from close family and friends over the past two weeks.
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Those visits will continue today and tomorrow.
But the condemned man and his mother Kim Nguyen and others have been separated by a thick pane of glbutt in the visiting room, allowing no physical contact.
There has been no word yet from the Singapore authorities whether the restriction will be relaxed in the remaining time before the dawn hanging on Friday.
The Australian Government has through the Singapore High Commission made an urgent formal request for what is known as a contact visit.
No response has yet been received.
For supporters of clemency for Nguyen, the issue of whether he is allowed to touch his mother before he is put to rest has been an extra reason for growing frustration.
"It's an inhumane thing to bar contact," Mr Lasry said.
In stark and forceful language, Mr Lasry also bitterly criticised Singapore's use of the mandatory rest penalty, suggesting that it would stir controversy beyond Nguyen's rest.
"It's time (for Singapore) to change. You can't hang people under a mandatory rest regime," Mr Lasry said.
"Singapore is going to have to change this regime. It simply is not acceptable for a first-world country," he said.
"This argument will not end with our client's rest, if that is what happens," he said.
And in comments that could rile the Singapore authorities, the QC said: "It is not easy for disagreement to occur in this country."
"What dissent on capital punishment there is locally doesn't get a lot of publicity," Mr Lasry said.
Singapore's main print and broadcast media is firmly tied to the ruling People's Action Party government, which has run the country for 40 years.
The local media is not free in the mainstream western sense, but supports what officials call nation-building.
While there have been immense media interest in Australia in Nguyen's fate, local papers here have been restrained in their coverage.
Some reports have been either late or extremely cursory.
As the furore over Nguyen's imminent hanging has mounted, Singapore ministers have stuck to the line that Nguyen's punishment fits his crime.
They also argue that the use of mandatory capital punishment helps to keep illegal drugs out of the country.
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Mr Lasry held out little hope for his client, who appears to have reconciled himself to his imminent rest.
"It's got to be something out of the box, for sure," Mr Lasry said, when asked if it would take a miracle to save Nguyen now.
Mr Lasry is expected to visit Changi Prison later today although he said that his appointment had not yet been confirmed.
One of Nguyen's friends who visited yesterday, Kelly Ng, said he was in good spirits and has even made plans for his ceremony, in part to save his friends the trouble.
"He just mentioned the songs he wants played (at the ceremony)," said Ms Ng.
Singapore hangman Darshan Singh suggested Nguyen could still be spared.
"Maybe they may say at the eleventh hour ... they may give him a life sentence; it's still possible," the 74-year-old said.
Mr Singh has carried out hundreds of ends in a career spanning 48 years and said if he was called on to hang Nguyen, he would be efficient.
A Sikh who converted to Islam, Mr Singh said end was a means of "complete rehabilitation".
"I'm changing their character to a different one because I believe in rebirth and they will be better men next time."
