The case shows the extent to which the media drives politics ,
the arbitriness of the media and that it is possible to get any legal opinion you wish for from virtually any lawyer.Nguyen Tuong Van played Russion roulette and lost He was caught trying to smuggle a considerable amount of heroin a serious crime in Australia.
The media have turned him into a hero , and virtually every politician in Australia has leaped onto the bandwagon.

Michelle Leslie by contrast was found with two ecstacy pills in her handbag. In Australia she would have been told to drink lots of water. Because she used her intelligence to get out of jail the media have turned her into a villain.

Drug dealers do not create demand for drugs. The demand already exists; drug dealers only clear the market with supply. By instituting criminal penalties for drug related crimes the government only generates a lucrative market in which risk premiums are driven to a zenith. That alone, in a black market industry will create violence, as agents within that industry are willing to use weapons as a means to gaining market share.

Therefore the assertion that 'Nguyen Tuong Van's death will make no difference to the drug dealers' is false, because it will create a more lucrative drug market, though marginally affecting supply and demand through price increases at the [inelastic] consumer level.

By creating a more lucrative market, Singapore risks more drug related crime, as drug dealers quarrel with each other to maintain their share of the market, and addicts struggle to meet the new prices.

I do, however, agree with Gillian on the consensus that it is profoundly stupid to execute anyone, much less an individual that hasn’t committed a violent crime. Though some might argue that they are implicitly harming addicts. I tend to disagree with that last remark.

I feel a tremendous amount of compassion for Nguyen. I see in him, something my own son almost.... got involved in. Most of his 'friends' of his 16-18 yrs period are either dead or in Jail or running from the police. One of his closest friends, a Cambodian, became a heroin user, his brother a dealer.

The Singapore authorities, have clearly stated and have well known laws about the consequences of carrying drugs on their territory. As far as the "Law" goes, there is no escape, no mercy, no way out. If you do the crime.. u do the time or hang.
How many of us, in our lives have gone past 'signs' of a similar nature ? Those signs may have simply been alerts in our concience .. a still small voice telling us 'no', yet we did. I know in my case this has been true.

In order to understand the gospel of Gods love in Christ, one only has to imagine the judge in Singapore, having pronounced the irreversible verdict and sentence, then steps down from the bench and informed the court that 'he' will be taking Nguyen's punishment and Nguyen may go free if he wishes.

Such was the act of God, in Christ giving Himself to the cross on our behalf.

In terms of the topic, and the rightness or wrongness of the death penalty, I prefer not to comment on the sovereign law of an independant country in this case.

Remember Alexander Downer's comment "The only hope now, ..is a miracle."

I hope and pray that Nguyen will understand these words

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mat 11.28

Perhaps the greatest miracle would be for Nyuyen's last words to be 'Forgive me, forgive them'.

Morpho,

So glad you live in Europe! What you are describing, second hand, is strangulation or garroting. The person who wrote the drivel you recycled has been reading horror stories or thinking of the wild west where they threw a rope over a tree branch and whipped the victim's horse from under him, leaving him swinging in the breeze until he died of asphixiation.

Judicial hanging is done by an expert. The hangman in Singapore has several hundred exections to his credit. There is a carefully measured drop which leads to the snapping of the spinal cord. I cannot say that death is always instantaneous, but Ngyuen will know nothing about it. He will probably be sedated.

So, let's not have unsubstantiated, emotional claptrap heaped on an already emotional matter.

I would also like to argue that the inconsistency with which Singapore applies its laws and sentencing regimes is reprehensible. Last year in a raid on a 'society' party a number of well connected 'personalities' were charged with a number of offences, including cocaine, ecstacy and ice use and trafficking. All but one was released on bail. In one case, that of the son of 2 prominent judges, the initial expectation was a sentence of 18-24 months prison. Defended by an MP lawyer , he got 12 months,on appeal reduced to 8 months as the judge ruled the sentence to be manifestly excessive. One of the other accused who barely managed to escape the mandatory death after tests in Europe re purity of the cocaine and y under the DEATH limit, was eventually sentenced to 5 years.Why? Because one of the key witnesses disappeared.He had been released on bail and allowed to leave the country for treatment for depression( court permission). So this guy went from the possibility of death to 20 - life to a final sentence of 5 years for cocaine trafficking. Needless to say his is rich, famous and part of the Singapore 'society' set. Meanwhile an unemployed 38 year old with a handicapped wife and children to support was sentenced to 18 months for stealing 2 rubbish bins ( judge ruled they were expensive and their theft led to increase in litter). Also, earlier this year a Singaporean was executed for importing ( motorbike from malaysia) 4k marijuana. When his 14 year old twin sons went to shopping centres to distibuteleaflets about their father's case, the police stopped them because they featured a photo of their father, was deemed to be illegal.

I am opposed to the death penalty.In Singapore the application of the law is inconsistent, heavily biased against the poor, the uneducated,guest workers and visitors. Those with connections, the rich, powerful and well-connected get different treatment.Also concerning is the extent of the links between the SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT and drug production and distribution in Burma. GIC ( govt investment ) was a major player in partnership with the drug lord Lo hsing Han. Profits from the trade have been farmed through the Singapore banking system for years. Lo's son, denied entry to the US for years, enters Singapore with impunity. Singapore's death policy is said to based on the old Chinese idiom " kill the chicken to scare the monkey". Unfortunately they only every really go after the chickens because they are bed with the monkeys. Their system is rotten to the core.