http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/ Nguyen Tuong Van, is currently on death row in Singapore awaiting execution by hanging. Van is a 25 year-old of Vietnamese descent, who was born in a Thai refugee camp after his mother fled her homeland. They emigrated to Australia when both Van and his twin brother were just a few months old. His mother settled in Melbourne's south-east suburbs and by all accounts Van was an ordinary kid growing up in an ordinary suburb. Van was arrested in December 2002 at Changi airport, Singapore, with almost 400 grams of heroin strapped to his body. Van was attempting to smuggle heroin from Vietnam to Australia. He was charged with trafficking and in March 2004, sentenced to death by judge Kan Ting Chui. Van had spent 15 months awaiting this verdict in a jail where inmates are shackled for up to 22 hours a day. The inmates' diet is also extremely poor and they receive little or no medical attention. The 23-year-old claimed he tried to smuggle heroin out of Vietnam to pay-off his twin brother's heavy debts. If Nguyen Tuong Van's brother had made mistakes in life, they were nothing compared to the mistake he made when he agreed to become responsible for his twin brother. According to Amnesty International, Singapore has executed 400 prisoners since 1991, giving it the highest per capita execution rate in the world. If Van loses his appeal, he will be the first Australian to be executed in more than a decade. I urge you to appeal against the death penalty given to Nguyen Tuong Van, and request that the Australian Government do everything in its power to have his sentence commuted to a lessor one and in doing so, support Van's appeal for clemency. Write to: The High Commissioner: Singapore Embassy 17 Forster Crescent Yarralumla, ACT 2600. and to H.E Alexander Downer Australian Foreign Minister House of Representatives Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Email: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au The death penalty is an abhorrent, repressive, punishment that defies the philosophy of enlightened civilisations. Kay Danes Advocate Foreign Prisoner Support Services http://www.foreignprisoners.com Wed, 13 Jul 2005 19:1:23 CDT en-us 3 http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371360 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST It is a hard punishment. Other people are more cruals than him... http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371269 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST This is a tragic waste of life. A blight on the souls of those responsible for "justice" in Singapore....shame on you. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371238 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST The pusnishment doesn't fit the crime. The Lesson: No more Singapore Airlines.. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371200 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST Death penalty doesn't justify the crime he committed. He deserves a lessor sentence. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371193 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371186 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371137 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371134 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST Please give him a chance http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371116 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371085 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371079 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST everyone makes mistake. Van's purpose of carrying heroin because of his twin brothers. He did not mean to harm anyone. Therefore, van deserves a second chance. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371075 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371043 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371038 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST He deserves a second chance. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371035 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1371017 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST For the first time offense, a death sentence is so inhuman; please do anything in your power to save his life, not because he is a Vietnamese or Australian but for the humanity sake. Such a cold-blood government in Singapore they are. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1370997 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST Please give him a chance http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1370981 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1370969 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/aussieman/#sig1370924 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:0:00 CST To the government of Singapore: show a little compassion. Nguyen Tuong Van's punishment does not fit the crime he committed.