linkSingapore snubs PM on hanging date
Thursday Nov 17 17:43 AEST
Sorrow and disappointment have again marked Prime Minister John Howard's unsuccessful attempts to win clemency for a Melbourne man on death row in Singapore.
Mr Howard says he met this week with the mother of Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van and found her plight "too pitiful for words".
He was "very disappointed" too that Singapore did not tell him during a meeting in South Korea on Thursday that Nguyen would be executed on December 2.
Mr Howard met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and made another unsuccessful appeal for clemency for 25-year-old Nguyen, who is due to face the gallows at Changi prison.
However, he did not learn until after the meeting that the Singapore government had set December 2 as the date Nguyen will be hanged for drug trafficking.
The news of the execution date instead came from Nguyen's lawyer in Melbourne, Lex Lasry, who said Nguyen's mother had been advised by letter of when her son would die.
Mr Howard, in Busan in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum, later told reporters he was very disappointed he had not been told of the execution date during his meeting with Mr Lee.
"I was not aware the letter was on its way during the discussion (with Mr Lee)," he said.
"I did not know of that fate.
"I'm very disappointed I was not told, very disappointed."
Mr Howard would not comment on what it meant for the broader relationship between Australia and Singapore, only saying: "I think it says something about this particular issue, I don't want to broaden it."
Once again, Mr Howard's appeals for clemency for Nguyen fell on deaf ears.
After meeting Mr Howard, Mr Lee said the rules concerning drug trafficking in Singapore were quite clear.
"I explained (to Mr Howard) why we were unable to accede to his request even though we understood where he came from," Mr Lee said.
Asked if there was a point to further appeals, Mr Lee said: "We will continue to listen to arguments but we have made the decision, the president has turned down the clemency petition and that's where the position stands."
Mr Howard said he met Nguyen's mother on Tuesday and described her plight as "too pitiful for words".
"Needless to say she is in a state of great anguish," Mr Howard said. "I feel desperately sorry for her."
Nguyen was caught with 396 grams of heroin strapped to his body and in his hand luggage at Changi airport in 2002.
The Australian government and Nguyen's supporters have been pursuing ways to spare his life after he lost an appeal for clemency last month.
©AAP 2005
Seriously, if any Aussie smuggles drugs into South East Asia without fucking knowing what everyone should know about our neighbours tough line on drugs, they should qualify for a Darwin award.