Singaporean PM rules out pardon for Nguyen

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says there will be no pardon for convicted Australian drug runner Van Nguyen who is due to be executed later this morning.

"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," Mr Lee said after a meeting in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He says the Melbourne man had been carrying the equivalent of 26,000 doses of heroin when he was arrested.

"This would have caused untold suffering to hundreds if not thousands of addicts and their families," he said.

"We take a very serious view of drug trafficking and the penalty is death."

Nguyen was sentenced to death for trying to smuggle 400 grams of heroin via Singapore to Australia in 2002.

He is due to be hanged in Singapore.

The case has sparked public outrage in Australia after Singapore turned down repeated pleas for clemency, with some sectors calling for a retaliatory boycott of Singaporean companies.

The Australian press has described Singapore's treatment of Nguyen as "barbaric", but Lee said he had been treated fairly.

"The Australian press is colourful," he said.

"But we uphold the rule of law to Singaporeans and Australians alike."

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 02 December 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/