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Australia shelves lobby against death penalty in SE Asia

Australia will not lobby against the death penalty in Southeast Asia but will continue to try to save its citizens from the gallows, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday.

He was speaking as the body of executed drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van arrived in his Melbourne hometown from Singapore.

Nguyen, 25, was hanged on Friday despite a strident campaign to save his life.

"I think we have to be realistic about what can be achieved," Howard told national broadcaster ABC.

"We're not going to change the attitude of countries in the region about capital punishment. And when you talk about the region you have to include in that, of course, China," he added.

Howard said that he would resist calls to have capital punishment reintroduced in Australia and would lobby hard for citizens on death row overseas.

Two Australians in Vietnam and one in China face execution for drug offences.

In Indonesia nine Australians arrested in Bali over a heroin smuggling attempt could face death by firing squad if convicted.

Nguyen's lawyer, Lex Lasry, pledged to continue his campaign to have the death sentence scrapped around the region.

He said that Nguyen's death could become a "signpost to demonstrate the way young people who get into the situation that he was in can transform themselves."

He added: "His transformation over the last two years was unbelievable. It was inspiring, complete and quite magnificent."

Nguyen, who arrived in Melbourne as a Vietnamese refugee at the age of two, was caught with almost 400g of heroin at Changi airport three years ago while in transit from Cambodia to Australia.

Many Australians declared themselves happy that the convicted drug smuggler was dead.

His interdiction at Changi airport meant less heroin on Australia's streets and fewer potentially lethal overdoses, they say.

A Roy Morgan opinion poll conducted 24 hours before Nguyen's execution showed 47 percent of Australians were for it and 46 percent against, with the remainder undecided.

A Catholic mass and funeral will be held at Melbourne Cathedral on Wednesday.
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