Singapore hangman wants out
The Daily Telegraph
October 27, 2005
THE man due to execute convicted Australian drug trafficker Van
Tuong Nguyen in Singapore is a 73-year-old grandfather who can't
retire because no-one will take his job.
The Singaporean government looks set to take the 25-year-old
Melbourne man to the gallows, after rejecting his appeal for
clemency last Friday.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has made a last ditch attempt to
save Nguyen's life, but says he has little hope the Australian will
be spared.
Singapore's chief executioner Darshan Singh, who has hanged more
than 850 prisoners in his 46 years in the role, is due to place the
rope around Nguyen's neck, The Australian newspaper reported
today.
He will say: "I am going to send you to a better place than this.
God bless you."
The newspaper says Singh wants to leave his job but authorities
cannot find a replacement.
Singh is not permitted by law to speak publicly about his
job.
But a colleague told the newspaper: "He tried to train two would-be
hangmen to replace him, a Malaysian and a Chinese, both in the
prison service.
"But when it came to pulling the lever for the real thing, they
both froze and could not do it.
"The Chinese guy, a prison officer, became so distraught he walked
out immediately and resigned from the prison service
altogether."
Nguyen was caught with 396g of heroin strapped to his body and in
his hand luggage at Singapore's Changi airport in 2002.
He is expected to be hanged in the next four to six weeks.
