Outcry forces Singapore media into the open
December 2, 2005 | Connie Levett | Sydney Morning Herald
TODAY'S execution of Nguyen Tuong Van has forced the mandatory
death penalty issue onto the agenda in Singapore, with the local
media unable to ignore the political lobbying, threatened trade
boycotts and heated public debate in Australia.
In a rare break with the government line, the broadsheet Straits
Times ran an article discussing the mandatory death penalty,
despite numerous government statements that it was essential to
protect citizens from drugs and to deter drug syndicates from
basing themselves in Singapore.
Political reporter Ken Kwek wrote: "Perhaps in the months ahead,
when emotions have died down, the mandatory death penalty - meaning
its case-by-case, crime-by-crime application - should be reassessed
by lawyers, officials and citizens alike."
"If that happens, we should all focus on the specific - how the
mandatory death penalty might be removed for certain crimes -
rather than fall for the broad-brush rhetoric calling for its
complete and unconditional abolition."
A long-time resident of Singapore, who asked not to be named, said:
"It shows in Singapore that within the established media there are
some misgivings about this medieval form of punishment. I wouldn't
see it as a signal from the Government, more a signal from the
intelligentsia."
He cautioned against reading too much into the story, saying the
article showed the death penalty was a safe topic for discussion,
rather than signalling a shift in government policy.
"Who is going to sue you, bankrupt you, for demanding an end to the
death penalty?" he said. "There is some latitude [on raising
issues] as long as you don't discuss the Lee family or racial
issues."
Lee Kuan Yew was the founding father and long-serving prime
minister of Singapore. His son, Lee Hsien Loong, became Prime
Minister in 2004.
The population is made up of Chinese (76 per cent), Malays (13 per
cent) and Indians (7 per cent), and since race riots in 1964, all
discussion of racial matters has been tightly controlled.
Samydorai Sinapan, the president of ThinkCentre, a Singaporean
human rights group, said Nguyen's case had shown Singaporeans how
the world viewed the mandatory death penalty.
"After five years of campaigning, we have got the press to discuss
the issue," he said.
"It's important to have more dialogue and debate, to see the
Government's reasons set out so they can be questioned."
Senior defence counsel Subhas Anandan, who has represented more
than 50 prisoners on death, also expected a review of the mandatory
nature of the death penalty at some point.
