28 Oct 2005

SAVE THE LIFE OF VAN TUONG NGUYEN

Send Urgent Appeals

It appears that some are not prepared to let Nguyen Tuong Van go without a fight. In Singapore no more than four people are allowed to protest and even then you will be confronted by police officers in full riot gear. However I am aware that there are large numbers of students of many nationalities living, working and studying in Australia. Take to the streets of Australia, it is well within your civil liberties. In Singapore you don't have any.


Please stand up for this man, we are urging Universities and human rights organisations around Australia to hold peaceful protests and request that Prime Minister John Howard personally and publicly request clemency for Nguyen Tuong Van. Don't let this young man hang.

For further information please contact me at kate@prisonersoverseas.com

Kind regards

Kate Gibbons

www.prisonersoverseas.com

SAVE THE LIFE OF VAN TUONG NGUYEN

URGENT ALERT

NGUYEN TUONG VAN - Please don’t hang this man


He now faces execution, possibly within 10 days.

Nguyen’s mother fled Vietnam alone in a boat in 1980 and had her twin sons in a transit camp in Malaysia before being accepted into Australia four months later.

Nguyen’s Australian lawyers described the decision as "devastating for him, his family and friends".

Lex Lasry QC said Nguyen had always admitted his guilt and given constructive help to authorities including the Australian Federal Police.

"The decision appears to pay no heed to the provisions of the Singapore Constitution that make specific reference and provide for clemency to those who assist the authorities with information which can be used to prosecute others," he said.

Mr Lasry called on the Singapore Government to reverse its decision.

Nguyen was sentenced to death last year after being found guilty by a Singapore court of smuggling almost 400 grams of heroin from Cambodia via Singapore.

Nguyen said he had the drugs because he was trying to raise money to clear debts incurred by his twin brother.

Kim Nguyen weeps as barrister Julian McMahon explains that an appeal against the death penalty for her son has been dismissed.

Please beware that the link to the website below contains graphic and harrowing images. We have made a decision to link to it, in order to highlight the desperate plight of Nguyen Tuong Van.

THE FACTS ABOUT HANGING

Please write to the President of Singapore Mr S R Nathan and plead clemency for Nguyen Tuong Van. email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg

Please address the President as Your Excellency and end the letter with Yours respectfully. Please be courteous and respectful in your request for clemency.

Please write to Prime Minister LEE Hsien Loong at ee_hsien_loong@pmo.gov.sg

Please address to Dear Prime Minister

Please write to Prime Minister John Howard requesting that he personally pleads for clemency to the President of Singapore Mr S R Nathan, on the behalf of Nguyen Tuong Van. This request has by echoed by Nguyen’s lawyer Mr Lex Lasry. Please Mr Howard make a personal public appeal to the Government and President of Singapore.

The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

email:The Hon John Howard MP

Other useful contact details:

Lex Lasry - Australian Lawyer
Email: lexlasry@empirechambers.com.au
1-13 University Avenue, Canberra ACT 2601
Tel:(02) 6257 6007
Fax: (02) 6257 6290 DX 99 Canberra

Joseph Theseira - Singapore Lawyer
Tel: 6533-0288 Fax: 6533-8802
Email: isaaclaw@singnet.com.sg
20A Circular Road
Singapore 049377

1 comment:

Dave said...

Smuggling 396.2 grams of heroin is a terrible crime; but premeditated execution is heinous.

Capital punishment is a deplorable act; it is a cruel and unusual discipline shackled to history's barbarous past. A death sentence eliminates retribution; it severs the establishment of moral conscience and mercilessly smothers all ethical instincts. Execution is a crime that cannot be undone, and murder is an unjustly permanent measure when weighed against fleeting transgressions.

Hanging Van Tuong Nguyen demonstrates to the world that Singapore's judicial system has principles set no higher than those of criminals themselves. To sell a man's life for an evil that will be forgotten faster than death oft takes its toll is beyond comprehension. Worse still, it lifts the offender to the moral equality of societal norms.

Repaying stupidity, ignorance, and lack of forethought with termination can only be considered uncaring, unenlightened, and underdeveloped. Any government with the insolence to wield such a law shall be shrouded in those very traits. Disciplinary alternatives are available that meet the needs of society (which the State is supposed to represent), while being a fair reproach for the felony.

Where iron rules are forged, iron fists and iron curtains have both been known to rise. Leaders like Lenin, Mao, and Hitler lacked the mercy that separates humans from hellions. Abolish capital punishment in your country. Van Tuong Nguyen must certainly realise the seriousness of his mistake; make him pay, but not with his life. Grant him clemency; and in so doing, show the world Singapore's capacity for compassion.