Australia considers going to international court to prevent
execution in Singapore
By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press Writer
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia is considering taking
Singapore to the International Court of Justice in a desperate bid
to prevent the execution of a heroin trafficker on Dec. 2, Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said Monday.
Singapore has refused Canberra's repeated pleas for clemency for
Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, an Australian citizen who was arrested at
Singapore's Changi Airport in 2002 while flying from Cambodia to
the southern Australian city of Melbourne carrying 396 grams (14
ounces) of heroin.
Downer said he would discuss with Van Nguyen's Australian lawyer
Lex Lasry on Monday the option of going to the International Court
of Justice in the Netherlands.
But he conceded that Australia would then face the dual hurdles of
persuading Singapore to recognize the court's jurisdiction and
getting the court to hear the case.
"My own preliminary view is that it would be almost impossible to
bring a case to the International Court of Justice because you
would have to have Singapore's agreement to do so," Downer told
reporters in the southern city of Adelaide.
"The chance of Singapore agreeing to a case being brought to the
International Court of Justice are fairly obviously remote given
the position they have taken on the execution of Nguyen," he
added.
The opposition Labor Party, which has accused Singapore of treating
Australia with contempt over the execution, supports the attempted
legal action.
"I believe where there is life, there is hope," Labor's foreign
affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd told reporters in the east coast city
of Brisbane.
Downer ruled out using trade sanctions or Singapore Airlines'
desire to be allowed to fly between Australia and the United States
as bargaining chips to save the condemned man.
But Prime Minister John Howard warned Singapore not to think the
execution - despite Van Nguyen's lack of previous offenses and
willingness to cooperate with authorities - would be ignored.
"The Singaporean government should not imagine that this issue is
going unnoticed in Australia," Howard told Australian Broadcasting
Corp. Radio.
"There is great feeling and conviction in our country that on this
occasion, the death penalty should not be imposed," he added.
If the court case proceeds, Lasry said Van Nguyen's legal team
would argue that the mandatory death penalty breached international
human rights law.
Lasry said leaders attending this week's Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Malta would be urged to pressure Singapore to
change its mind.
Nguyen's mother Kim Nguyen and twin brother Khoa Nguyen flew from
Melbourne Monday to visit the condemned man.
Van Nguyen says he was trafficking heroin to help pay off his
twin's debts.
Asked how Kim Nguyen was coping with the prospect of saying goodbye
to her son, Lasry told the Nine Network television: "Of course,
she's hoping that something miraculous will happen."
What a joke??
