Singapore Hangs Australian Drug Dealer [PIC]
 

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/as...anging.acc.jpg

SYDNEY, Australia -- Singapore hanged young Australian drug smuggler Tuong Van Nguyen at 6 a.m. Friday (2200 GMT Thursday), despite widespread condemnation in Australia.

"The sentence was carried out this morning at Changi Prison," the Home Affairs Ministry said in an e-mailed statement, The Associated Press reported.

Church bells tolled in Nguyen's home city of Melbourne at 9 a.m. Friday, the scheduled time of his execution. Vigils were held in other Australian cities.

On Thursday, the Australian government had dropped diplomacy and called Singapore's plan to hang Van Nguyen "barbaric."

Nguyen's mother, Kim Nguyen, was able to hold hands and touch her son's face during her last visit to see him on Thursday.

An Australian television reporter on the scene at Changi jail told CNN on Friday morning that Nguyen's brother Khoa and friends were allowed into the jail to be close to Nguyen at the time of his execution.

Nguyen was the first Australian executed overseas for 12 years.

Australia had repeatedly sought clemency for Nguyen, 25, who was convicted of smuggling 400 grams (0.9 lb) of heroin from Cambodia through Singapore's Changi airport in 2002.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock criticized the imposition of the death penalty, especially in Nguyen's case which he said had mitigating circumstances -- Nguyen said he smuggled the drugs to try and pay off loan-shark debts for his brother in Australia.

"It was a mandatory death sentence. We feel most remorseful this is going to happen," Ruddock told Australian television ahead of the apparent execution.

"It's a most unfortunate, barbaric act that is occurring."

In 1986, then-prime minister Bob Hawke caused a huge rift with Malaysia that lasted a decade when he called the hanging that year of two Australian drug smugglers "barbaric."

Singapore is one of Australia's strongest allies in Asia and Australian Prime Minister John Howard has rejected calls for trade and military boycotts over the execution.

Howard did, however, make five personal pleas to Singapore and his foreign and justice ministers also called for clemency. But the city-state stood firm, saying it would not allow Singapore to be used as a transit for illicit drugs.

Many Australians held candle-lit vigils for Nguyen on the eve of his execution,

But a survey showed Australia was divided over the punishment..

A survey by Morgan Poll conducted on Wednesday night showed 47 percent of Australians believed Nguyen should be executed, 46 percent said the death penalty should not be carried out, and seven percent were undecided.

Australia abolished the death penalty decades ago. The last man hanged in Australia was convicted murderer Ronald Ryan who was hanged in a Melbourne prison in 1967.

Ready to die

On Thursday, Nguyen's lawyer, Lex Lasry, told Australian television from Singapore that Nguyen was "ready to die".

"He's in very good shape emotionally, physically, spiritually, and his courage and his fortitude through all this, particularly in the last few weeks, makes our role much easier," said Lasry.

"He has little concern for himself. He has a great insight into his situation and he is, in fact, ready to die," he said.

Some 420 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, an Amnesty International 2004 report said. That gives the country of 4.4 million people the highest execution rate in the world relative to population.

Opponents of the death penalty say support for capital punishment is weakening around the world. But at least 3,797 people were executed in 2004, according to Amnesty figures, which the group says is the second-highest number recorded since it started monitoring executions 25 years ago.

Are we suppose to feel sorry for this guy.

I feel pretty fuckin sorry for him.

LOL sucks to be him

he tried to smuggle 1 pound of herion? pffffft pathetic to risk your life for such a small amt of a drug.

he wouldnt have made too much off a pound of h.

well, its a bitch to lose your life .................

Well that taught him a lesson, didnt it...

it's all over the news here... i really don't know the whole hype behind it since other australians have died regarding drug traffiking...

Hanging is so barbaric. :mad:

Yea they have some strict laws over there. Even chewing gum is illegal. He had 400 grams, they would have still givin him the death sentence with only 15 grams.

Caning is a mandatory part of the sentence for rape and many drug-trafficking offenses. For example, a person trafficking a Class-A drug, such as heroin, receives a minimum punishment of 5-years imprisonment and 5 strokes of the cane. A person trafficking a Class-B drug, cannabis, for instance, receives a minimum punishment of 3-years imprisonment and 3 strokes of the cane.

Persons caught trafficking larger amounts of narcotics are handled with an even more severe punishment. A mandatory death penalty was introduced in 1975 for persons convicted of trafficking in more than 15 grams of heroin or more than 30 grams of morphine. The death penalty is also mandated for trafficking 30 grams of cocaine, 500 grams of cannabis, 200 grams of cannabis resin, or 1.2 kilograms of opium. Possessing these quantities is deemed as prima facie evidence of trafficking. In other words, if you possess these quantities, you are deemed to be a trafficker and therefore subject to the death penalty.

you know it's not some big fucking secret that they kill drug smugglers if they catch them . . .

he'll think twice before he does that again

better than getting electricuted.

true, dunno what the guy was thinking....

well, that's pretty hard for such a crime

Yes, but it's a well known fact that Singapore is extremely strict, not only when it comes to drugs. The crazy thing is that that he didn't even enter Singapore but was just in transit at the airport. With so many other options for flight routes available in the region, why in the world did he choose to fly through Singapore?

sucks to be him....

it's pretty barbaric to hang someone who i think has repented but damn heroine.. whew!

Ya I was thinking the same thing. That dude is crazy! Sucks for him but he shouldnt be smuggling drugs either. :disgust

I would feel bad for him if he had been tricked into it. but he admitted that he did it.

That's how Singapore government handles such crime--too bad for him to operate his business there...

yeah i am from australian and its on every newspaper and every tv channel

i think hanging has got to be worse than electrocuting someone for sure!

Singapore is a well-to-do nation. why hanging? that's so old school

He had his life the way he wanted to be... too bad he got caught

can I ask why?

I bet he'll never try to smuggle drugs again...

selling drugs is ..... a bitch

Don't chew gum or spit on the sidewalk. If you do, you'll also get a taste of Singapore's justice.

Seriously, what the fuck does it matter how you kill someone? It's not like they're gonna remember it. Hanging is a lot better than the electric chair, which can take several attempts sometimes. I'd rather be hung, than shit my pants and piss myself.

Wont do it again

Congrats to the winners.

:helpme :helpme

http://www.digdis.net/Nguyen-Family-Creed.jpg

http://www.digdis.net/image0d0d1.jpg

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...844047,00.html

I care more about his death

I think hanging someone is crazy for that crime.

On the other hand, you have to be one stupid ass mofo to try and go through airport security screening in a country like Singapore and think you're going to get away with it.

That is a strange quote! I really don't think he will never smuggle drugs again either.....He is fucking dead now, so how can do it again!

I'm sure he was full aware of the stiff laws, yet he followed through with it. Not that I condone such a penalty like that.

Looks like a mass migration by drug traffickers this time..

ahh I think this is fucked ... :(

Pretty crazy, but I guess if there's a lesson to be learned ...

DON'T DEAL DRUGS IN SINGAPORE!

another one bites the dust