Send Downer, Rudd to plea

The Advertiser: Send Downer, Rudd to plea: Labor :


"'There is broad-based concern in this country that what is going on here is simply not right and (that) we ourselves have things that we want to see Mr Van Nguyen do for us in terms of capturing the Mr Bigs of the drug industry and that simply cannot happen if his life has been terminated in Singapore.'"

There is concern. There is unhappiness. There is frustration. As one person quite rightly pointed out in a forum, we are more gravely at risk from the speeding drivers who have taken more than one innocent life this year than someone like van Nguyen. With drugs we have a choice and the real criminals will still be with us. Mr. Beazley has made a very good point. If important government officials are there next week and on Friday along with his friends and family, it will represent how we feel. I totally accept what Mr. Howard has said, that he has explored all the official avenues to plead for clemency, and has done it in a manner which respects both our wishes to be heard and the Singaporean Government's right to enact its laws. This is where an absolute monarch would be handy. They could show mercy to individuals and hear individual cases. Democracy forces you to simply apply the common law whether it is relevant or not at the time.