Drug runner may touch mom

2005-12-01 22:30

Sydney - Singapore bowed to Australian government pleas on Thursday to let a condemned Australian drug runner touch his mother and brother one final time before his execution on Friday.

After rejecting repeated, top-level Australian bids to save the life of Nguyen Tuong Van, Singapore agreed to break with its normal policy and allow the 25-year-old to hold hands with his mother Kim and his twin brother Khoa.

Singapore said the decision was in response to a personal request from Prime Minister John Howard to his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, at a Commonwealth heads of government meeting last week.

"Like many jurisdictions that authorise capital punishment, Singapore does not allow 'contact' visits between prisoners and family members," it said, arguing that "such encounters can be traumatic and are likely to destabilise the prisoners and their family members".

"However, after considering the request carefully, especially the personal appeal made by PM Howard ... Mr Nguyen will be allowed to hold hands with his mother and brother," it said.

'It's better than nothing'

Nguyen has only been allowed to see family and friends through a glass partition at Singapore's Changi prison since being condemned to death for trying to smuggle 400g of heroin via Singapore to Australia in 2002.

Foreign minister Alexander Downer, who has said it was only reasonable for Kim Nguyen to hug her condemned son, welcomed Singapore's decision.

"It'll perhaps be very meagre compensation, of course it will be, but it will be nice that they can touch each other," he told reporters. "It's better than nothing."

Capital punishment has long been outlawed in Australia, and the Canberra government made numerous top level appeals to Singapore to spare Ngyuen, but to no avail.

But after accepting the inevitability of Ngyuen's impending death, Downer made a last ditch appeal early on Thursday to permit physical contact between the young man and his family.

However, Prime Minister Lee, speaking from Berlin, confirmed there would be no pardon for the Australian drug runner.

"All factors have been taken into account but the government decided that the law has to take its course and the law will take its course," he said. "We take a very serious view of drug trafficking and the penalty is death."

- SAPA