Singapore Executes Man for Six Pounds of Marijuana
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 23:51 Young Australian’s legal fight ends at the gallows
Published: Saturday, 3 December, 2005, 09:06 AM |
For Arnold’s Sake - fighting for marijuana legalization, one Austrian muscleman at a time.SINGAPORE: A young Australian drug smuggler’s complex legal and diplomatic battle to avoid execution ended yesterday when he was hanged in a Singapore prison after all appeals were exhausted .
“ Mr Nguyen failed in his appeals to the Court of Appeal and to the president. The sentence was carried out this morning at Changi Prison,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a short e-mailed statement .
The case of Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, has generated public outrage in Australia , where capital punishment has long been outlawed .
Based on previous accounts, executions are usually conducted with the prisoner shackled and hooded before a noose is put round his neck and a hangman pulls a lever to release a trapdoor, snapping the neck as the body drops .
The prison is close to Changi Airport , where Nguyen was arrested for heroin smuggling in December 2002 while in transit from Cambodia to Australia .
With almost 400g of pure heroin in his possession, Nguyen confessed that he agreed to be a drug mule to help pay off his brother’s debts and his lawyers said he co-operated with police .
But Singapore law states that possession of any amount beyond 15g is punishable by a mandatory death sentence, which is carried out only by hanging. Continue reading click here.
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