Australia will not punish Singapore over hanging-PM
By Michelle Nichols and Jan Dahinten
CANBERRA/SINGAPORE, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Australia will not punish
Singapore over the planned execution of an Australian drug
smuggler, Prime Minister John Howard said on Thursday ahead of
protests around the country to oppose the Dec. 2 hanging.
Howard rejected calls by a prominent government politician for the
hanging of Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, to be taken into account in the
Canberra government's deliberations on whether to grant Singapore
Airlines access to the Sydney-Los Angeles air route.
Australia has unsuccessfully pleaded for clemency for Nguyen --
convicted by Singapore of smuggling 400 grams (0.9 lb) of heroin
from Cambodia. He was arrested while in transit at Singapore's
Changi airport.
Amnesty International plans to hold protests against the execution
around Australia during the next four days.
Nguyen's hanging comes as Australia finalises a review of its
aviation policy that includes considering whether to grant
Singapore Airlines , the world's second-largest airline by market
value, access to the trans-Pacific route.
"I don't support linking the two things and they won't be linked.
That would not be in Australia's interests, it would not be good
policy. The Singapore Airlines issue is a separate issue," Howard
told Australian radio.
Howard was responding to a suggestion made by government
backbencher Bruce Baird, who heads the Australian parliament's
Amnesty International group, earlier on Thursday.
"I'm not saying it should be made a condition, I just think it is
one of the issues that should be taken into consideration," Baird
told Australian radio.
Australia's Qantas and bankrupt U.S. carrier United Airlines, part
of UAL Corp , are the only airlines offering direct flights from
Australia to the United States. Discount carrier Virgin Blue also
wants U.S. access.
Howard has also dismissed calls for trade sanctions to be imposed
on Singapore over the case. Human rights campaigners have suggested
Australians boycott companies linked to the city-state, but such a
campaign does not appear to have taken off.
NO CLEMENCY
Rob Hulls, Attorney General for the state of Victoria who flew to
Singapore to plead for the Melbourne man's reprieve, said on
Thursday he had been told by the government that all avenues to
stop the execution had been exhausted.
Hulls met a junior government minister for 20 minutes on Thursday
and later spoke to Nguyen's mother and his brother at Australia's
High Commission -- a meeting which he described as the toughest one
he has ever had.
"It was very difficult to explain to them that the Singaporean
minister I met today is of the view that he doesn't believe there
is any further grounds to review the clemency petition," he told
reporters after spending an hour with the family.
"We had a sandwich, we had an orange juice, we had a chat. It's
very, very difficult ... when you're sitting with a mother whose
son is about to be executed."
Hulls said the death penalty or caning of convicts -- a common
punishment in Singapore for offences ranging from vandalism and
immigration violations to drug crimes -- were "not punishments that
belong to a 21st century justice system".
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown called on Thursday for Canberra
to suspend an agreement allowing Singapore to station military
forces in Australia, which Brown said included an entire basic jet
training unit and 12 Super Puma helicopters.
"The hypocrisy of Singapore's huge investments in Burma, one of the
world's biggest exporters of illegal drugs, while shrugging off
Australia's requests to commute Van Nguyen's sentence to life
imprisonment cannot be ignored," Brown said.
NO PROVE DON'T SAY SO
MUCH LAH ! AUSTRALIAN ! GO BALI AND RAPE GIRLS AND LITTLE BOYS
NEVER SAY !
Nguyen's mother, who met Howard last week, and his twin brother are
visiting him daily ahead of his execution. Australia has said
Nguyen was carrying drugs to help his twin pay off debts to loan
sharks.
Australia asked for clemency on the grounds that Nguyen had
cooperated and could be a witness in future drug cases.
Howard said he would not raise Nguyen's case at the Commonwealth
Heads of Government meeting in Malta this week.