Australian government deserts young man due to hang in Singapore
By Mike Head - World Socialist Web Site
A young Australian man will almost certainly be hanged in Singapore at 6 a.m. this Friday after the Australian
government made it plain it was prepared to sacrifice his life to bolster its economic and strategic relations with the
anti-democratic south-east Asian regime.
Despite pleas from around the world, Van Tuong Nguyen, 25, will be executed under Singapore’s mandatory death penalty
for drug trafficking, including those people caught working as “mules”.
Over recent weeks, tens of thousands of people, including school students and community groups, in Australia have taken
part in “candles of hope” rallies, signed petitions, sent SMS messages and written letters, pleading for a halt to the
execution. In Singapore, where public assemblies are forbidden and the government-controlled media has suppressed
reportage and discussion, hundreds have nevertheless attended protest meetings. In one instance, authorities censored an
anti-hanging art exhibit, removing all references to Nguyen.
In the face of the groundswell of support for the young man, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his key ministers
have engaged in hypocritical hand wringing—claiming to oppose the execution, but not even lodging a formal diplomatic
protest to Singapore. On Monday, they finally ended the pretence, declaring that there was nothing further they could
do.