Alx

I agree here with Artist, as for the dude who got busted, i feel he should have been dealt with in Australia, but nontheless, i guess Singapore wanted to make an example out of him.

Curb Zone

 

MikeJ

That's an interesting view of jurisdiction you have there, AlxAmg. It was the Singaporean law that was violated, and it is therefore the Singaporeans who get to deal with the offender. Citizenship has absolutely no play there. Your citizenship does not dictate which laws you need to follow while you're abroad. I'm not sure if Australian law would have allowed this guy to be tried there as he got busted before reaching Australia.

Alx

My point is though one might know an act is illegal, he would not know the laws of another country becasue he doesn't reside there. EX. If i go to Singapore and get busted for transporting 14 ounces of Heroin, perhaps in the U.S. i would expect to get 7-10yrs in prison, but in Sweden how would i know that they would execute me. I dont live there nor know the rules to every country i travel. I shouldn't be trialed based on that countries laws simply because i am not a citizen there and wouldn't know them. Besides execution is very harsh for this crime.

MikeJ

Now if they were executing people for selling chewing gum (which was illegal in Singapore until recently), I'd agree. But the fact that drug trafficking carries mandatory capital punishment in Singapore is practically impossible to miss if you do any research (like read a guide book) before taking a trip there. Ignorance is not an excuse. And a thing to remember - you will be trialed based on the laws of whichever country you're in, so I recommend doing a bit of reading before leaving the U.S. for the next time, especially if you're going to Singapore. (They have some rather interesting laws there, and interesting punishments as well.)

Alx

Honestly i would have been screwed on that chewing gum law.

I understand its illegal, and dont need a guide book to tell me that. But the punishment is too heavy to fit the crime. imo. Though it would have been wrong to transport narcotics, i wouldn't expect execution if caught.

Matt

My personal theory about capital punishment is whether the person is a problem and a threat to keep alive. If he is a danger to be kept alive then the death sentence is suitable. But, I personally think the death penalty should only be used in extreme cases. Maybe I live in a fantasy world though.

Mirage77

Every aeroplane transiting into, or landing into Singapore will have messages read out to passengers regarding the death penalty for drug trafficking. It is reminded in all major transport crossroads, including airports, seaports and railway stations. I think there is no excuse for him not knowing the laws of Singapore.

Anyway, Putfile blocked my access to their website...

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

At dawn on December 2nd 2005, Singapore hanged a citizen of Australia, despite a plea for clemency from the United Nations. Whilst Putfile is not a human rights campaigning organization, we believe that if a country must have the death penalty, there is no need for it be barbaric. It is enough of a punishment, and a deterrent, to take someone's life in a painless manner, without having to be barbaric about it. Putfile prefers to not continue to provide our free uploading service to a country that executes prisoners by hanging, a method of execution which can take up to six minutes to painfully execute the victim.

For this reason, we are at this time terminating all service to users from Singapore. We shall be happy to restore service following any positive move from the government of Singapore towards abolition of hanging as an execution method.

Goodbye Singapore,

Putfile.


Sigh...

MikeJ

Well, whether hanging is an acceptable method of execution is indeed another matter...

Snake Vargas

Maybe they should have a warning on planes that are stopping over in Singapore:

"We wish to advise you that Singapore has a mandatory death sentence for possession of illegal drugs. All passengers with drugs may avail themselves of the aircraft toilets to dispose of any drugs in possession. Thank you."

Oh yeah, and even back then, wasn't it only selling of chewing gum that was illegal, but not the possession of it, as such?

---

Back to the corporal punishment, I'm in two minds. It's a big ask, to condemn someone to death because of a crime. It's legal murder. It would depend on your stance towards taking someone's life - is it something that just depends on their worth, or lack of, to society? Or is it to make them pay for the crime they've committed? What is the purpose?

Then again, sometimes there are horrible crimes, and then the public might feel best served by some sort of 'closure' and 'revenge'.

For this Nguyen guy, all I can say is, ignorance isn't an excuse, and it's tough luck. You do the crime, you do the time, or in this case, it's your life. Should have known better, or chosen somewhere safer. After getting caught, you can't just say 'sorry, let's play nice now'. You break the law of a country, why shouldn't they have the legal right to punish you according to the laws of the land?

I would have been quite happy if he had been granted clemency, or whatever. But that's not the case, so that's that. I feel sorry for the family.. I can't imagine what it would be like.

---

And I think some in Australia are also wondering about a possible double standard - are the same people who asked for granting clemency to this guy, or decrying capital punishment, the same who wanted the death penalty for the (alleged?) Bali bombers? Who knows. Something to think about.

Hypersonic

Singapore is very tough on drugs - he must have known that, a drug trafficker surely would know the laws of the countries he was trvelling through.

As far as Capital Punishment is concerned....there definately are some people who are so wicked and disturbed that it is hard to justify keeping them around - I do however think they are in the minority. I don't think this young man should have died for his drug crime - they still use the rattan cane in Singapore - apparently you never forget the pain, death seems a bit too tough to me but they are Singapore's laws - what right do we have to complain, the message is clear - DON'T TAKE DRUGS INTO SINGAPORE!

Curb Zone