Singapore bowed to Australia's pleas yesterday to let a condemned Australian drug runner touch his mother and brother one final time before his execution today.
After rejecting repeated, top-level Australian bids to save the life of Nguyen Tuong Van, Singapore's foreign ministry said prison and government authorities would break with its normal policy and allow the 25-year-old to hold hands with his mother Kim and his twin brother Khoa.
Singapore said the decision was in response to a personal request from Prime Minister John Howard to his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, at a Commonwealth heads of government meeting last week.
PHOTO: EPA
"Like many jurisdictions that authorize capital punishment, Singapore does not allow `contact' visits between prisoners and family members," it said, arguing that "such encounters can be traumatic and are likely to destabilize the prisoners and their family members."
"However, after considering the request carefully, especially the personal appeal made by PM Howard ... Mr Nguyen will be allowed to hold hands with his mother and brother," it said.
Nguyen has only been allowed to see family and friends through a glass partition at Singapore's Changi prison since being condemned to death for trying to smuggle 400g of heroin via Singapore to Australia in 2002.
Capital punishment has long been outlawed in Australia, and Canberra made numerous top level appeals to Singapore to spare Nguyen, but to no avail.
Having accepted the inevitability of Nguyen's impending death, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made a last ditch appeal earlier yesterday to permit "some physical contact" between the young man and his family.
Earlier yesterday an opinion poll was published showing that many Australians supported the death sentence handed down against Nguyen despite widespread public emotion here over his fate.
The survey by the Morgan institute found that 47 percent of Australians believe Nguyen should be executed for his crime.
Another 46 percent said the death penalty should not be carried out; seven per cent were undecided.
Downer acknowledged that many Australians felt Nguyen committed a serious crime and deserved to be punished.
"But I feel very sad he is going to lose his life as a result of it," he said.
"Regardless of what the opinion polls say, I feel very sad he is going to be executed myself," he said.
The impending execution of the Melbourne native, who had no previous criminal record and told police he was smuggling the drugs to help pay off his twin brother's debts, has angered many Australians and saddened many others.
A number of candlelit vigils and prayer ceremonies have been held to show support for Nguyen, including one outside parliament in Canberra overnight that was attended by politicians from across the political spectrum.
The public emotion and occasional calls for a retaliatory boycott of Singaporean products has raised concerns Nguyen's execution could damage relations between the two countries, which are major trade partners.
But Australian officials have insisted the case will not harm ties, and Singapore's top diplomat in Australia appealed for understanding yesterday in comments on national radio.
"We respect Australia's sovereign choice not to have capital punishment but we hope that Australia and Australians would also likewise respect Singapore's sovereign choice in imposing the death penalty for the most serious crimes, including drug trafficking," Singapore High Commissioner Joseph Koh said.
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