Execution

By now Hguyen Tunong Van has been executed in Singapore. Obviously the execution has been the hot topic here on Oz telly with the commercial TV stations engaging live telecasts outside Changi Prison.

Of course they are not showing the execution but in the attempt to capture the atmosphere of groups and people that have congregated at the prison. This is quite macabre given that at this time they show children programs.

As you are aware, I feel sad for his mother more that family and friends.

In reality, the amount of heroin he was carrying is equivalent to nearly 26,000 hits and worth over $1.3m. And we all know drugs ruin and can even end lives. If I were to break it down, of those 26,000 there could be a number of people that could be victims or crime to get money to buy drugs. Also there may be a very small percentage of users who OD and then die.

Thus one could argue that the penalty fit the crime.

However, Van Hguyen was in transit at the airport in Singapore. He was not going to stop there and was actually on his way to Australia. Well this is the claim. So really, was the Singaporean Government justified in handing out such a harsh sentence? I am sure that was argued and my personal opinion he should have been arrested in Australia.

But that is to no avail anymore, he has been executed and now its time to let his family mourn his death.

Yet I think there is a more sinister motive by the Australian Government and their stand on drugs in this country.

Johnny and his boys are trying to make it very unappealing to traffickers to carry drugs and act as mules. Look at the Bali 9 case, these people were carrying drugs into Australia but were stopped before leaving. Now they will all be shot. It’s hard to deny carrying the drugs when they are strapped to your body.

So they let drug traffickers get caught going to Australia but having to stop in Country’s with the death penalty. This then sends a strong message to people considering the opportunity to bring drugs here that they will be caught and possibly die.

So does this mean Nguyen Tuong Van can be seen as a dark hero, doing what was needed to do, to justify the fight against drugs?

And again, people are not focussing on the fact that he acted as a mule to pay of the debts of his brother. So should the focus now be on the people who made him act a s a mule. Really they are the cause. They are the head and they need to be cut off.

If you were desperate for money or had to save your life or someone else’s life, would you act as a drug mule?