http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1509080.htm
Singapore sets Nguyen execution date
The family of convicted drug trafficker Van Nguyen, who is on death
row in Singapore, has received confirmation he will be executed on
December 2.
Prime Minister says he is "very disappointed" that he was not told
that Singapore had made a decision on the date it would execute
Nguyen.
Nguyen's mother received the letter this afternoon, dated
yesterday.
The letter states Nguyen can have family visits from three days
prior to his execution.
Prime Minister John Howard met with his Singaporean counterpart on
the sideline at the APEC summit in South Korea in another attempt
to avert the execution.
Mr Howard says he was not told about the execution date when he met
with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
"I'm very disappointed I was not told. Very disappointed," he
said.
Mr Howard says there is now no hope Singapore will change its
decision.
He says he again pressed Singapore to reconsider its decision to
execute Nguyen, saying there are circumstances that warrant the
death penalty not being imposed.
Mr Howard revealed it was the fourth time he had spoken to Mr Lee
about the matter and says he met the condemned man's mother in
Sydney last week.
Mr Howard said he personally felt great sadness for Nguyen's
mother's suffering.
He said Nguyen's fate should be a warning to any Australian
contemplating drug crime in Asia.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Lee said he understood Mr Howard's
concerns but said the decision would not be reversed.
"It's a decision which we have to take, and which we have to answer
for," Mr Lee said.
Mr Lasry will now fly to Singapore to be with his client.
Lobbying continues
Mr Lasry says the situation now looks extremely desperate for his
client but he says Australians should continue lobbying the
Singaporean Government.
"Tomorrow at 10 o'clock at the state library we'll be displaying
the reach out response, the massive response we've had from people
in relation to that," he said.
"It'll be launched by [Victorian] Attorney-General Rob Hulls and
people will have opportunity to express their opposition to this
execution."
Amnesty Amnesty's Tim Goodwin is urging Australians to send SMS
messages to the Singaporean Government.
"We're literally engaged in a race against time now," he
said.
Mr Goodwin is not optimistic, saying in 420 execution orders handed
down by the Singapore Government since 1991, not one has been
overturned.
Jesuit priest and social justice campaigner father Peter Norden
says he will continue to support Nguyen and his family.
"The Pope has already approached the Singapore Government, we
received confirmation of that from Rome in the last few days, but
it seems that none of these approaches have been enough to change
the heart of the Singapore Government," he said.
The 25-year-old Melbourne man was arrested in Singapore in 2002
with 400 grams of heroin while in transit between Cambodia and
Australia.
