# They actually hanged him.



## Milan (May 29, 2005)

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pm-attacks-clinical-singapore/2005/12/02/1133422084249.html

Ok the guy did wrong but to hang someone - Jesus what century are we living in.

If you have not been following a young Australian got busted with heroin on him in Singapore and paid the ultimate price for his mistake.

Some stats I heard - Singapore executes ~50 people (that we know of) per year with a population of only 3 million. The US does the same amount with lethal injection. They must love the smell on blood.

There are better ways of dealing with small fry drug smugglers but what can you do. The Singaporean government is truly barbaric. They wouldn't let his mum give him one final hug goodbye. He is still is a human being.

I'm also shocked at the polls and on talkback radio where the majority of the Aus population thought that the death penality was justified.

Opinions?


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## agentcooper (Mar 10, 2005)

goodness! that certainly is severe...but why would anyone in their right mind have heroin in singapore?


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2005)

agentcooper said:


> goodness! that certainly is severe...but why would anyone in their right mind have heroin in singapore?


he probably wasn't in his right mind


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2005)

Watch the movie "Midnight Express."


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2005)




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## rainboteers (Apr 5, 2005)

that is horrific.


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## enngirl5 (Aug 10, 2004)

At least in America we don't kill people with drug problrms. The reason that affected me so much is because I have a younger cousin who's on heroin. And I can see him being just stupid enough to have it in a foreign country. Yet no way in hell he ever would deserve the death penalty. And I'd die if something like that happened to him. Can you imgaine how this guys family must feel?


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## SillyPutty (Mar 29, 2005)

I'm not saying I necessarily agree in this paticulair situation but, I think that places like that that have severe punishment practices in place have less crime/drugs etc etc right? or no?


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

I recall reading some years ago that Singapore has an incredibly strict system for all "crimes". I seem to recall that spitting one's chewing gum on the sidewalk resulted in a fine.

I looked up statistics on crime in Singapore now -- briefly. As I see it, they have problems, with young people, but are very, very strict. I think their overall crime rate though is rather high. Not murders, but robberies, asasaults, etc.

And yes, you can't mess around there, it is a stupid idea to bring drugs into that country.... "Midnight Express" re: Turkey? is an excellent film about what happened to an American carrying drugs there. No mercy.

The thing is, here in the US, our prisons are filled with drug offenders which seems stupid to me. Sometimes I think certain drugs should be legalized or there should be an alternative punishment.

On the other hand, having seen what drugs do to young people, I have mixed feelings about this. Also, drugs fuel gang activity. The impact of illegal drug use is rampant.

Miserable story!


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2005)

My blunt statement: I really feel alot of hatred towards to the Singapore population right now. I will refrain from mentioning what I would do to the bastards who killed that poor kid. May they all burn in hell.


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## Homeskooled (Aug 10, 2004)

Wow, that is incredibly, _incredibly_, sad. Reading about how his mother could only run her fingers through his hair and touch his hands - it made me want to cry. Both of her twins have had runins with the law, and the one who was the better behaved is now being hung in a foreign country? I mean, I know what its like to not have a great family life, but to then top off the mother's grief by hanging her son who was her hope for the future? She must be losing her mind. And to only let her touch his _hair_? That must have been torture. Its a tragedy of shakespearean proportions. I'm a Catholic, and we are against capital punishment. Its technically allowed in severe cases, but the thought is that now, with our understanding of human behaviour, there is noone who cant be truly rehabilitated. And even if they cant be, who are we to say that God cant touch them in a mysterious way in prison? I dont think its good to mess with the balance of life that way. Honestly, I beleive that killing in war is much more natural and noble than capital punishment. At least everyone one (in theory at least) is a trained soldier, doing their jobs, knowing the risks. And yes, Dreamer, chewing gum was actually _illegal_ until last year. I think Singapore-watchers were saying how loose the country was becoming, allowing chewing gum to finally be sold. Of course, now they just fine you or put you in jail if you put it on the ground. Good ole "loose" Singapore. If they continue at their current trajectory, they should be allowing kids to play hopscotch by about 2050.

Peace
Homeskooled


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## maria (Oct 28, 2004)

I guess it's cheaper to hang people than to put them in prison


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## Milan (May 29, 2005)

Watching the news Friday night I seriously tried holding back the tears when I saw the pain in his families eyes but I couldn't.

This is how it happened (and just try to imagine your self going through this and remember he was only 25). His request not to be shackled was granted (oh how humane these Singaporeans are) so he was able to walk freely to the gallows although he was handcuffed. The over prisoners sang religious songs as he walked by. He took the hood himself and placed it over his head. And then he had to stand there waiting for the floor to open below him. Just imagine those last few seconds knowing that your neck is about to be yanked apart. Apparently the heart still beats 30mins after your vertebrae is snapped. This is just too much. His mother was at the local parish praying as the event happened but his twin brother managed to be the prison complex.

All around Australia there where vigils and most people broke down right at the time of his execution. The Friday morning papers had photos of him when he was a little boy and they where at least trying to give the guy a human side rather than simply being labelled a drug dealer.

No, harsh penalties will not stop crime. Singapore may appear clean on top but from speaking to people who have been there you only need to scratch the surface a little and it's pretty dirty underneath. You just don't have the freedom as you do in the democracies that most of us live in. This practice needs to be stopped.

If the government really wanted to stop the drugs they should go for the big guns which this guy was going to help them do if they allowed him to live but obviously they didn't care. So a life is gone and the drugs still persist


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2005)

Hi All,

Van Nguyen was the young 25yr old man executed in Singapore on Friday morning.

Van's plight had been headline news for weeks here in Australia.
He was arrested at Singapore airport in 2002 for smuggling 400 grams of heroin.
The government and a group of lawyers had been working on his case ever since he was arrested.

Many pleas for clemency were made to the Singaporean government.
Our Prime Minister's plea to allow Van's mother to hug her son was
denied.

I personally found it terribly sad and wept for much of Friday morning. 
I wept for Van,his mother and his twin brother.

A survey showed the country is evenly divided about the outcome.
This surprises me.
Those who are opposed to the execution feel that as wrong and as foolish Van's actions were he didn't deserve to be killed.

Widespread candle vigils were held on the eve of his execution.

I watched on TV as church bells tolled 25 times(once for each year of his life) in Melbourne, Van's home town.
In Sydney's city centre people gathered in silence to hear a gong struck 25 times to symbolise his Vietnamese heritage.
All over people gathered to pray and mourn for Van Nguyen.

Singapore has executed 420 people since 1991.

Two Australian men were executed there in 1986.

We also have a group of young Australians(the Bali 9) about to be sentenced for heroin traficking in Bali.
There is talk of the death penalty.

We have had two other extremely controversial cases of young Australian women arrested in Bali on drug charges (not heroin).

I was there this year(luckily missed the bombings by one week).
As I approached customs it felt a little blood chilling to see a massive red sign warning that drug possesion carries the death penalty in Indonesia.
This sign was not there last time I visited Bali.

Another good but perhaps not well known movie is "Bangkok Hilton"
one of Nicole Kidman's early roles.


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