Just when you thought the wild west was over I find this jem.
Australian to be executed in Singapore
CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian man convicted of drugs charges in Singapore has lost his final appeal for clemency and will be executed, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Friday.
Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, was sentenced to death in March 2004 after being convicted for smuggling almost 400 grams (0.9 lb) of heroin from Vietnam. He was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport in December 2002, where he was in transit for Australia.
Downer, Prime Minister John Howard and Governor-General Michael Jeffery had all pleaded for clemency for Nguyen, who will become the first Australian to be executed for drugs charges in Southeast Asia since 1993.
"We are very sad that this has happened. We have done our best, we have done everything we can to save his life," Downer told reporters in Adelaide. "The execution is expected to be carried out fairly quickly, which is the custom in Singapore."
Australia is a staunch opponent of the death penalty but Singapore, known for its tough stand against crime, mandates the death penalty for murder and drug trafficking.
Nguyen's Melbourne-based lawyer Lex Lasry said the Singapore decision was devastating for Nguyen, his family and "anyone who values humane treatment of their fellow human beings."
"Death by hanging is hideous. Further, it is grossly out of proportion to the crime committed," he said in a statement, adding that Nguyen had admitted his guilt and cooperated with authorities.
"We call on the Singapore government to reverse this decision. We make this call in the name of fairness and justice."
But Downer said there was little more Australia could do.
"This was a decision made by the Singapore Cabinet and the President, consistent with the laws and constitution of Singapore," Downer said.
Two other Australians, Mai Cong Thanh, 46, and Nguyen Van Chinh, 45, remain on death row in Vietnam after being convicted for drug smuggling.
In 1986, Malaysia executed Australian drug smugglers Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers by hanging in a high-profile case that sparked a major diplomatic row after then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke described the death sentence as "barbaric."
The last Australian to be executed in Southeast Asia was Michael McAuliffe, who went to the gallows in Malaysia in 1993 for drug trafficking.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051021/...a_singapore_dc