Pope called upon to plead for Australian on SG death row.
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Agence France Presse
March 17, 2005
SYDNEY
AN Australian man on death row in Singapore has pleaded with the island state's president for clemency because he has cooperated with a police investigation into an international drug ring, his lawyer said Thursday, March 17.
Nguyen Tuong Van, who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand but whose family is Vietnamese, was arrested in Singapore's Changi airport in December 2002 carrying almost 400 grams of heroin strapped to his lower back and in his backpack.
Since then, he has assisted Australian Federal Police investigations into an Australia-based international drug cartel.
"We've lodged a petition for clemency with the Singapore president," lawyer Lex Lasry said, adding: "There's been a trial, there's been an appeal, this is the last step in the process."
Singapore President Sellapan Rama Nathan is currently on an official visit to Australia.
Lasry said Singapore's constitution allowed for leniency if a co-accused gave evidence that led to the conviction of a main offender.
In Nguyen's case, this would be if information he provided could be used to arrest members of the syndicate he was briefly involved with, he said.
Referring to information Nguyen gave investigators, Lasry said: "There was obviously a benefit in that for Australia, but (also) for any Southeast Asian country."
Australian Federal Police confirmed Thursday that they had interviewed Nguyen in relation to an investigation.
Police gave Nguyen's defence team a letter generally given to "people who have assisted with investigations," a spokeswoman told AFP.
The plight of the 24-year-old sales executive from the southern city of Melbourne has also been taken up by Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell who has called on the Pope to plead for Nguyen's life.
"People who have met him and have talked to him say that his repentance is genuine," Pell told ABC radio.
"It was his first oversees trip, he has admitted his guilt right from the start. I have sent off the file to the Holy Father, to Pope John Paul II, asking for his support."
Nguyen, who emigrated to Australia as a child, told police he was smuggling the drugs to help pay off a debt owed by his twin brother. He was sentenced to death last year.
Lasry said he expected Nguyen to know whether his petition has been successful within three months. -
The drugs weren't even meant for Singaporeans' consumption. Rather, it was the Victorians who ordered them. This case, by right, is the responsibility of Melbourne police.
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Wow, the matter sure is blowing big! To think the pope is even called in! Will we buckle? I wonder. Only time will tell, I suppose.
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They dun care... Once it steps in SG, you are bounded by laws under Republic of SingaporeOriginally posted by iveco:The drugs weren't even meant for Singaporeans' consumption. Rather, it was the Victorians who ordered them. This case, by right, is the responsibility of Melbourne police. -
even the pope cant help him. he going to be hang for sure.
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i think he should be spared.
shan zhai shan zhai....
anyway he corporated with police to try to bust the drug ring rite? and further drugs not for sg consumption. and also he repented?
i dun care whether we buckle or not, its not about strict soverignty of nation but rather of compassion and justice as weighed by the lady blind-folded with a balance, carved at the front spine of the supreme court.
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Pope asks:"Singapore? What's that?"
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anyway he corporated with police to try to bust the drug ring rite? and further drugs not for sg consumption. and also he repented? - Even it is not for SG, once the drugs gets into Changi Airport (The gate), you can be arrested as you are now bounded by SG lawsOriginally posted by nightzip:i think he should be spared.
shan zhai shan zhai....
anyway he corporated with police to try to bust the drug ring rite? and further drugs not for sg consumption. and also he repented?
i dun care whether we buckle or not, its not about strict soverignty of nation but rather of compassion and justice as weighed by the lady blind-folded with a balance, carved at the front spine of the supreme court. -
"is it somewhere in China ? "Originally posted by ditzy:Pope asks:"Singapore? What's that?" 
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"wasn't it supposed to be a Malay state? it's under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, isn't it?"Originally posted by crazy monkey:"is it somewhere in China ? " -
Originally posted by iveco:"wasn't it supposed to be a Malay state? it's under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, isn't it?"
Thought it is a UN member, meaning a independent state? -
Personally i think the Singapore government will probably commute his death sentence to life imprisonment, cos must give Australian government face mah...Originally posted by crazy monkey:even the pope cant help him. he going to be hang for sure.
Just have to look at the number of Indonesian maids who killed their employers here... none of them were hanged. There were always some excuses in the end to justify sparing them from the noose.. i remember one in which the court ruled that the maid had been very stressed cos she had been ill-treated by her employer and that drove her to the murder.. so she was sentenced to imprisonment instead. I don't think any Singaporean if in her shoes would be spared the hangman with this kind of argument.
And i dun think anyone will forget the Michael Fay incident here in 1994.. After the then US President intervened on his behalf, the Singapore government reduced his sentence.
When politics clashes with justice, politics will always prevail. I think the government has learnt this lesson after the uproar in the Philippines over the hanging of the filipino maid murderer Flor C__ here back in the 90s. That particular incident led to a cooling of bilateral relations between Singapore and the Phillipines back then. I believe the Singapore government has been on the lookout to avoid such diplomatic embarrassment since then. -
Death sentence they may give face, but not for caningOriginally posted by cornyfish2000:Personally i think the Singapore government will probably commute his death sentence to life imprisonment, cos must give Australian government face mah...
Just have to look at the number of Indonesian maids who killed their employers here... none of them were hanged. There were always some excuses in the end to justify sparing them from the noose.. i remember one in which the court ruled that the maid had been very stressed cos she had been ill-treated by her employer and that drove her to the murder.. so she was sentenced to imprisonment instead. I don't think any Singaporean if in her shoes would be spared the hangman with this kind of argument.
When politics clashes with justice, politics will always prevail. I think the government has learnt this lesson after the uproar in the Philippines over the hanging of the filipino maid murderer Flor C__ here back in the 90s. That particular incident led to a cooling of bilateral relations between Singapore and the Phillipines back then. I believe the Singapore government has been on the lookout to avoid such diplomatic embarrassment since then. -
Death sentence better than life imprisonment wat.
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Actually they do... In the Michael Fay incident, the Singapore government reduced his caning from 6 strokes to 4 strokes after Bill Clinton petitioned with the Singapore govt on his behalf.Originally posted by sbst275:Death sentence they may give face, but not for caning -
Life term: Still can walk free after 50 years if fresh evidence appears to clear you.Originally posted by crazy monkey:Death sentence better than life imprisonment wat. -
But dif... Death sentence and Life Inprisonment means you escape death...Originally posted by cornyfish2000:Actually they do... In the Michael Fay incident, the Singapore government reduced his caning from 6 strokes to 4 strokes after Bill Clinton petitioned with the Singapore govt on his behalf.
Fay's case dif, still butt kena whacked -
heh, i think they are equally bad.. but the death sentence would probably have a greater deterrent effect, i guess..Originally posted by crazy monkey:Death sentence better than life imprisonment wat. -
True.. but to give face for a death sentence case will definitely mean that the guy'll escape death.. since there's no half-death sentence to talk about. The next highest punishment possible would be life imprisonment with 24 strokes of the rotan.Originally posted by sbst275:But dif... Death sentence and Life Inprisonment means you escape death...
Fay's case dif, still butt kena whacked -
The Pope can't do anything- the govt will still hang him. After all it doesn't get its reputation for being stubborn for nothing isn't it?
Religious appeals dun work in S'pore, dun even talk abt personal political appeals. John Howard knows that himself & that's why he hasn't even utter a single word. -
Bloody shit- triple post!
Sorry.
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edited.
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The report above didn't say whether the Pope has agreed to plead for that criminal.Originally posted by LazerLordz:The plight of the 24-year-old sales executive from the southern city of Melbourne has also been taken up by Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell who has called on the Pope to plead for Nguyen's life. -
For all the talk about rehabilitation, here is one prisoner who has cooperated to help in the fight against drug trafficking, and all we cna do is kill him in cold blood?Not as if he's unremorseful..And pray tell, what f*cking deterrant does it serve when the couriers are hanged and the bosses are still out there.Originally posted by cornyfish2000:Personally i think the Singapore government will probably commute his death sentence to life imprisonment, cos must give Australian government face mah...
Just have to look at the number of Indonesian maids who killed their employers here... none of them were hanged. There were always some excuses in the end to justify sparing them from the noose.. i remember one in which the court ruled that the maid had been very stressed cos she had been ill-treated by her employer and that drove her to the murder.. so she was sentenced to imprisonment instead. I don't think any Singaporean if in her shoes would be spared the hangman with this kind of argument.
And i dun think anyone will forget the Michael Fay incident here in 1994.. After the then US President intervened on his behalf, the Singapore government reduced his sentence.
When politics clashes with justice, politics will always prevail. I think the government has learnt this lesson after the uproar in the Philippines over the hanging of the filipino maid murderer Flor C__ here back in the 90s. That particular incident led to a cooling of bilateral relations between Singapore and the Phillipines back then. I believe the Singapore government has been on the lookout to avoid such diplomatic embarrassment since then.
Commute the sentence I say, and let not the blindness of paper justice serve as a yoke around our shoulders.Punishment should be based on the willingness of the prisoner to repent.And life is not given by us, so it shall not be taken away by us without any decency and moral justification.We need to apply the same standards to our own citizens.I find it extremely disturbing that we are not placed ahead of others when it comes to something of such a serious nature.Talk about every Singaporean counts.Appraently you only count if you are a "model" citizen and a parrot....Kiss my balls.