Amnesty International says Australians are responding in record numbers to its campaign to save a Melbourne man sentenced to death in Singapore.
Van Nguyen, 25, has been convicted of heroin smuggling and could be executed within weeks.
Prime Minister John Howard says the Federal Government has done all it can.
But Tim Goodwin, from Amnesty International, says the fight is far from over.
"We're also getting a lot of support from the broader Australian community as well," he said.
"People are contacting us, they're logging onto our website, they're phoning us in record numbers asking us what they can do to actually voice their protest and take a stand for basic human rights in this case."
But Mr Goodwin concedes it is a major challenge to try to convince Singapore's Government to change its mind.
"They do have a very tough record, a very brutal record of carrying out executions and we're very aware of that but at the same time we're not going to give up on this case," he said.
"While ever he's still alive we're going to keep campaigning, keep raising awareness of this issue and the fundamental violation that actually is the death penalty."
Social and political issues related to Singapore and the South East Asia region. A blog which attempts to do so in a non-trivial manner treating opposing views with the respect they deserve. Contributions are welcomed from all regardless of your political persuasion.
3 Nov 2005
Amnesty's death row campaign draws record response
Report initially appeared on ABC news online.
An Australian, Van Tuong Nguyen, will be executed for drug trafficking unless more attention is drawn to his plight. I believe that together we may save the life of this man.
ReplyDeleteTo this end, I have written an open letter to the President of the Republic of Singapore asking for clemency. The open letter, which includes a dozen related e-mail addresses, is online:
Letter to Singapore's President
It is my hope that the interactivity of the Web can save a young man's life. Please read the above site and if you agree that a human should not die for being caught with drugs, then I beg you to send an e-mail asking the President of Singapore for clemency on behalf of Van.
Sincerely,
Dave Jarvis