http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4468644.stm
Anger as Singapore hanging looms
A former Australian prime minister has called Singapore a "rogue
Chinese port" for ignoring appeals to save a drug smuggler from the
death penalty.
Gough Whitlam, in office in the 1970s, made the remark in an
interview about the case of an Australian national who is due to be
hanged next week.
Australia has appealed for clemency to be granted to Nguyen Tuong
Van.
Singapore insisted the law must take its course, saying that drugs
ruined the lives of addicts.
Nguyen's lawyer welcomed Mr Whitlam's support but said his remarks
about Singapore would not help.
Mr Whitlam said the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, should
go further by raising the issue at the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Malta on Friday.
"If [the meeting] is of any use then it should be raised there,
because it concerns many other countries - some larger, some
smaller than the rogue Chinese port city," he told The Age
newspaper.
Nguyen is due to be executed on 2 December after being convicted of
trafficking 400 grams (14.11 ounces) of heroin in 2002.
Mr Howard said he would not campaign for support in Malta for his
clemency pleas, saying that would likely harden Singapore's
determination.
