Van Tuong Nguyen

For the 19th century Vietnamese politician, see Nguyen Van Tuong

Van Tuong Nguyen (Vietnamese: Nguyễn Tường Vân pronunciation (help·info), baptised Caleb^[1]) (17 August 1980 – 2 December 2005) was an Australian from Melbourne, Victoria convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore. A Vietnamese Australian, he was also addressed as Nguyen Tuong Van in the Singaporean media, his name in Vietnamese custom.

Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death sentence under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act, and despite pleas for clemency from the Australian government, Amnesty International, the Holy See, as well as other individuals and groups, he was executed by hanging at 6:07 a.m. SGT on 2 December 2005 at Changi Prison (9:07 a.m. AEDT, 2 December, or 22:07 UTC, 1 December).

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Youth

Nguyen and his twin brother Dang Khoa Nguyen were born in a refugee camp at Songkhla in Thailand to Vietnamese parents. He did not know his father until 2001 when he travelled from the United States to Australia. His mother, Kim, is Vietnamese and migrated to Australia shortly after the boys' birth. She married a Vietnamese Australian in 1987, who Nguyen said beat them often. His education was at St. Joseph Primary School in Springvale, Melbourne and Mount Waverley Secondary College.

After leaving school at 18, he intended to study at Deakin University, but financial difficulties led him to work as a storeman, door-to-door salesman, computer sales and research marketing. He started his own computer sales business in 1999. After his brother Khoa got into legal trouble, Nguyen wound up the business. He then found a sales, research and marketing job and earned between AU$1500 to AU$2500 a month (depending on how much commission he received). He subsequently took long leave between June and December 2002 (i.e. six months). As stated in his confession, he was on "medication for acne that required 4 months leave".^[2]

Drug trafficking

Throughout his trial, Nguyen claimed that he was carrying the drugs in a bid to pay off debts that he owed and to repay legal fees his twin brother Khoa (a former heroin addict), had incurred in defending drug-trafficking and other criminal charges.^[3]

The loan Nguyen owed came from a Chinese Australian friend, which amounted to approximately AU$20,000 to AU$25,000. In addition to his own financial troubles, Nguyen tried to help pay his twin brother's debt of AU$12,000. His twin brother's loan had to be repaid by the end of the 2002. Nguyen could only afford to repay AU$4000, covering the interest on the loan.

By October 2002, Nguyen had been out of a job for four months and sustaining expenses which included interest on the loan and personal living costs, all totaling AU$580 a month. Desperate, Nguyen sought a quick way out. In November 2002, Nguyen contacted a Chinese man named "Tan" for help. Tan told him to travel to Sydney to meet a Vietnamese man named "Sun". Sun made Nguyen a proposition. Sun would repay Nguyen's loans if Nguyen transported packages from Cambodia back to Melbourne and possibly Sydney. The trip would take Nguyen through Singapore. The man said the packages contained "white" which Nguyen understood to be heroin.

It was Nguyen's first trip overseas from Australia since emigrating from Thailand as a child. He reached Phnom Penh at midday on 3 December 2002 after leaving Sydney in the evening of the previous day. Following the instructions of "Sun" he met with a Cambodian man at the Lucky Burger restaurant at 3 p.m. on 4 December. He was taken by car to a garage where he was told to smoke some heroin. He was threatened with a metal rod after refusing and decided the best course of action was to consume the drug. After the encounter, he returned to his hotel room for the night.

The following day, Nguyen met his associates at the Lucky Burger and again taken to the garage where he offered no resistance when asked to smoke heroin with the men. He was then shown how the packages would be strapped to his body. Nguyen was instructed to stay in Phnom Penh until 10 December at which point he was to meet at the Lucky Burger. He travelled around Phnom Penh until 8 December, at one stage hiring prostitutes for companionship, but said he did not sleep with them. He decided to fly to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

He missed the meeting on 10 December after arriving back late from Ho Chi Minh City. On 11 December he was taken to the garage and scolded for not being there the day before. He was then instructed on how to crush rocks of heroin and to strap the packages to his body. The rest of the day was spent crushing and packaging the drugs in his hotel room. He checked out of the hotel the next day and went to the airport.

Arrest

After a four hour stopover in Singapore he was in transit at Gate C22 of Singapore Changi Airport awaiting a connecting flight to Melbourne. When attempting to board his connecting flight, he triggered a metal detector. This alerted an airport official who noticed a bulge in Nguyen's back. A package of heroin from Cambodia was found strapped to his body. After the first package was discovered, Nguyen informed the airport official about a second package in his luggage.

Conviction

Nguyen confessed to have in his possession 396.2 grams of heroin, more than 25 times the amount that mandates a death sentence under the Misuse of Drugs Act (15 grams). The Singaporean High Court sentenced Nguyen to death for this crime on 20 March 2004.

After he was convicted, Nguyen was held on death row in Changi Prison. An appeal to the Court of Appeal was rejected on 20 October 2004.

On 17 November 2005, Nguyen's family received a registered letter from the Singapore Prisons Department, which contained notice of his scheduled hanging on 2 December 2005.

On the same day at the APEC Summit in South Korea, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard made a last appeal on Nguyen's behalf to Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The letter of notice by that time had already been delivered to Nguyen's mother. Howard later said he was "very disappointed" that Lee did not inform him of Nguyen's execution date during their meeting that morning.^[4]

Lee apologised to Howard in a phone call later that night, explaining that the letter sent to Mrs Nguyen had arrived a day earlier than anticipated.^[5] Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo also conveyed his apologies to his counterpart Alexander Downer.^[6]

Nguyen's lawyers arrived in Singapore on 18 November 2005 to inform their client of his impending execution date.

A survey by Morgan Poll released on 30 November 2005 showed 47% of Australians believed Nguyen should be executed, 46% said the death penalty should not be carried out, and 7% were undecided.^[7]

On 2 December 2005 Nguyen was executed at 6:07 a.m. SGT and was officially reported as dead at 7:17 a.m. SGT by the Ministry of Home Affairs. In a short statement they said "The sentence was carried out this morning at Changi Prison."

Pleas for clemency

Government of Australia

A plea for clemency by the Australian Government was rejected in October 2005.^[8] The Australian federal government abolished the death penalty in 1973, with the last execution in 1967. Australians, including members of Federal and state parliaments, appealed for the decision to be reconsidered and clemency to be granted. His hanging was the first execution of an Australian in Southeast Asia since 1993, when Michael McAuliffe was hanged in Malaysia for drug trafficking.

On 21 November 2005, the Australian Government was considering a request made by Nguyen Tuong Van's lawyers to apply for a hearing at the International Court of Justice. This required the Singaporean government's agreement to its jurisdiction. However, Foreign Minister Downer considered it unlikely that the Singaporean government would have agreed to this. ^[9]

On 28 November 2005 Australia's Human Rights Commissioner, Sev Ozdowski, said Australia must keep pressuring Singapore to abandon the death penalty, even if it proves too late for Nguyen.^[10]

Other groups

After his sentencing in March 2004, the Australian coalition against death penalty was reported to be inundated with emails from Australians offering support for Van Tuong Nguyen.^{[11] [12]}

On 24 November 2005 Bruce Baird, senior Liberal MP and chairman of the parliamentary Amnesty group told the Age newspaper, "The Government should take into account the Singapore Government's refusal to consider clemency" when cabinet is considering the application from Singapore Airlines to fly between Australia and Los Angeles.^[13]

On 25 November 2005 the Australian Catholic Bishops made a plea for clemency. This was rejected by the Singaporean government.^[14]

On Thursday 1 December 2005, a day before Nguyen was hanged, Melbourne lawyer Brian Walters, SC, launched a last ditch legal tactic. He charged Nguyen with drug related offences in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, which he hoped would allow the Australian Federal Government to extradite Nguyen. However, Justice Minister Chris Ellison ruled out extradition, saying that the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions would not have attempted to prosecute Nguyen in Australia.

A summons required that Nguyen be in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 2 February 2006. Mr Walters claimed that he did not wish to harm Nguyen's case by starting this tactic earlier. He said: "There is enough time, whether people are going to move quickly is another matter, but there is enough time."

Media coverage

Channel Seven program Sunrise had reporter Chris Reason reporting from outside the jail, and Melbourne reporter Nick Etchells reporting from a church in Richmond at the time Nguyen was due to be hanged. Sunrise initially had local Australian Idol 2005 winner Kate DeAraugo perform her new single, "Maybe Tonight", at 8:50am, but a quick cross to Reason prompted the show to cancel the performance (it was 5:50am in Singapore). Those who attended a memorial in Melbourne included freed hostage Douglas Wood, former governor-general Peter Hollingworth and a few local footballers, most notably Matthew Richardson and Nathan Brown.

Channel Seven also had Adrian Brown report minute by minute, and, at around 6:10am SGT, he reported: "Well, it's just about 6:10 now, so it's fair to assume that Van Nguyen is now dead". He had been covering all the news throughout the previous fortnight.

Prime Minister John Howard decided to go ahead with the annual Prime Minister's XI, which was to be played at Manuka Oval in Canberra's south. The match was due to start at 10am, one hour after he was hanged.

ABC broadcast a documentary - Just Punishment on 7 December 2006. This documentary was filmed over a period of two years. Following Nguyen's mother(Kim), his brother and his two close friends, through the appeals, and campaigns held (in Australia) before the execution day. There was a mixture of exclusive interviews, and also footage showing Van's prison diaries.^[15]

Singaporean response

In a letter to David Hawker, the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives in Canberra, Abdullah Tarmugi, the Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, wrote: "He was caught in possession of almost 400 g of pure heroin, enough for more than 26,000 doses of heroin for drug addicts", "He knew what he was doing and the consequences of his actions." Speaking on behalf of the Singapore Government, Tarmugi said: "We are unable to condone Mr Nguyen's actions. As representatives of the people, we have an obligation to protect the lives of those who could be ruined by the drugs he was carrying."

"We cannot allow Singapore to be used as a transit for illicit drugs in the region," Tarmugi wrote to Australian MPs. "We know this is a painful and difficult decision for Mr Nguyen's family to accept, but we hope you and your colleagues will understand our position."^[16] As a transportation hub, Singapore has always been a potential transit point for Golden Triangle heroin.^[17]

Nguyen's letters

While in prison, Nguyen wrote several letters in which he revealed his deep pain of missing his mother after his arrest. According to a report by The Age, Nguyen wrote: "Amidst these score of painful revelations an unspoken truth was exposed. I found myself in deep sorrow for the true victims; the families of those whom suffer as a result of losing a loved one to drugs. This truth has put many things in perspective for me."^[1]

The letters, intended for friends and family to read after his death, filled more than one box and have been handed over by the prison authorities. The letters will be sorted and then delivered to the people to whom they were addressed, cited a report in The Sunday Times.

Vigils

A group of human rights activists held a vigil for Nguyen in Singapore on November 7 2005. Among those present was opposition politician Chee Soon Juan, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party. An opponent of the mandatory death penalty, Chee argues that the legislation is too harsh on drug couriers, with little effects on drug bosses.

In Australia, vigils were held in several cities in the week leading up to the execution.

The Catholic Parish of St Ignatius, in the Melbourne suburb Richmond; the church's primary school was in the past attended by Nguyen and twin brother, held a service. The bell in the church tolled 25 times at 9 a.m. AEDT, the same time at which Nguyen was executed. The 25 tolls symbolised the 25 years of Nguyen's life.

Campaigners also held a vigil outside the prison just hours before his execution. Turning up unexpectedly in the final hour before Nguyen's execution, his family and lawyer Julian McMahon had been allowed access inside the prison whilst the hanging was taking place. They did not witness the event but were granted access to be as close to Nguyen as possible at the time of his execution. Kim Nguyen and Lex Lasry QC were not present, and were believed to have been at a church some distance down the road from Changi Prison.

A request was made by Liberal MP Bruce Baird for an official minute's silence to honour Nguyen "to express our compassion for this young Australian and our opposition to the imposition of this barbaric sentence". This was met with strong disapproval by Minister for Veterans' Affairs De-Anne Kelly^[18] and representatives of the Returned and Services League, who stated such tributes should be restricted to fallen soldiers or victims of natural disasters. Other groups felt it was inappropriate to "honour" a convicted drug trafficker, claiming that hundreds die each year from heroin overdosing. The request was not officially approved, although many groups paid their respect at 9 a.m., the scheduled time on the east coast of Australia for the hanging. A motion to hold a minute's silence passed in the Queensland Legislative Assembly 49-18 after being debated for nearly an hour.^[19] MPs who voted against the move walked out before the observance. ^[20]

Funeral

Nguyen's body was released to his family and left Changi Prison about four hours after he was hanged. From the prison, Nguyen's body was taken to the Marymount Chapel of the Good Shepherd's Convent in Singapore for a private memorial service at 1 p.m.. Staff from the Australian High Commission requested on behalf of the family for the media to stay away from the chapel.

His family returned to Australia with his body at 5.30 a.m. December 4, 2005, after an overnight flight to Melbourne.^[21] A requiem mass was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral on December 7, 2005, starting at 11 a.m.. The service was conducted in English and Vietnamese. More than 2000 mourners attended, many dressed in white, the traditional Vietnamese colour of grief. Yellow ribbons were tied around elm trees to symbolise rehabilitation at Changi Prison.^[22]

The announcement by Victorian MPs Geoff Hilton, Bruce Mildenhall, Sang Minh Nguyen and Richard Wynne that they would attend drew criticism from the Crime Victims Support Association, saying it appeared to give support to a convicted drug trafficker. Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, did not attend, saying he did not want to glorify Nguyen in death, but did not oppose the other MPs attending.

Political consequences

John Howard's warning against illicit drugs

Australian Prime Minister John Howard used the execution of Nguyen as a warning to young people to stay away from drugs. He told Melbourne radio station 3AW:

Australian Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott also gave similar warning. He said that the Singapore government's decision to go ahead with the execution was wrong and that the punishment "certainly did not fit the crime". He added: "But people do need to understand that drug trafficking is a very serious offence and it has heavy penalties in Australia and it has even more drastic penalties overseas as we have been reminded today."^[23]

Singapore-Australian relations

While it was reported that some minor ties have been broken, (including airport workers to process Singapore Airlines luggage), John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, said that the country would not be taking any punitive action against Singapore. ^[24]

On 23 February 2006, the Australian government rejected a bid by Singapore Airlines for permission to fly a permanent route between Sydney and the United States. This drew strong criticism from the government of Singapore. Peter Costello, the Australian treasurer, said "We don't link executions to aviation policy" and that the rejection was independent of Nguyen's hanging.^[25]

See also

• Capital punishment in Singapore
• Flor Contemplacion
• Michael P. Fay
• Barlow and Chambers execution
• Schapelle Corby
• Michelle Leslie
• Bali Nine
• Prohibition (drugs)
• Illegal drug trade
• List of Australians in international prisons
• Darshan Singh

References