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Vigil for Van Ngyuen @ Martin Place
Anti-execution rally in Sydney
From: AAP
December 01, 2005
WHEN convicted drug smuggler Van Tuong Nguyen dies tomorrow the barbaric practice of the death penalty must die with him, a prayer vigil in Sydney has been told.
About 1000 Sydneysiders gathered at Martin Place tonight in sombre protest over the imminent hanging of the 25-year-old Melbourne salesman.
Calling for an end to capital punishment, Amnesty International's Tim Goodwin said the organisation would continue fighting the death penalty in Nguyen's memory.
"It is ineffective, it is dangerous, it is extreme and it is the most barbaric, brutalising punishment," Mr Goodwin told the gathering.
Tears were shed as Reverend Bill Cruise, from the Exodus Foundation, said Australians would lose a brother at dawn tomorrow, when Nguyen is executed by Singaporean authorities for trying to smuggle almost 400 grams of heroin through Changi Airport in December 2002.
"We are all brothers and sisters to each other. When one of us dies we all die," he said.
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"One of us is going to be murdered in the most brutal and callous way possible."
Cameron Murphy, from the Council of Civil Liberties, said hundreds of Australians had worked tirelessly in a bid to save Nguyen.
"But every legal avenue has been exhausted," he said.
"People in power have refused to make the decisions they should have ... I don't think our politicians have done enough. The message from our government has been ambiguous."
It was time for politicians to make a stand and ensure no more Australians met Nguyen's fate, Mr Murphy said.
"They need to do more in the region to ensure that we don't allow countries like Singapore to continue to engage in this barbaric act," he said.
"It is absolutely unacceptable, it is uncalled for, it is disproportionate and it must end here and now."
In Melbourne 300 people walked from Federation Square to the Queen Victoria Gardens as part of an Amnesty International candelight vigil.
There were no speakers at the Melbourne vigil, but prayers were held and lit candles were placed in the garden's pond.
Vigil for Van Ngyuen @ Martin Place
Anti-execution rally in Sydney
From: AAP
December 01, 2005
WHEN convicted drug smuggler Van Tuong Nguyen dies tomorrow the barbaric practice of the death penalty must die with him, a prayer vigil in Sydney has been told.
About 1000 Sydneysiders gathered at Martin Place tonight in sombre protest over the imminent hanging of the 25-year-old Melbourne salesman.
Calling for an end to capital punishment, Amnesty International's Tim Goodwin said the organisation would continue fighting the death penalty in Nguyen's memory.
"It is ineffective, it is dangerous, it is extreme and it is the most barbaric, brutalising punishment," Mr Goodwin told the gathering.
Tears were shed as Reverend Bill Cruise, from the Exodus Foundation, said Australians would lose a brother at dawn tomorrow, when Nguyen is executed by Singaporean authorities for trying to smuggle almost 400 grams of heroin through Changi Airport in December 2002.
"We are all brothers and sisters to each other. When one of us dies we all die," he said.
Advertisement:
"One of us is going to be murdered in the most brutal and callous way possible."
Cameron Murphy, from the Council of Civil Liberties, said hundreds of Australians had worked tirelessly in a bid to save Nguyen.
"But every legal avenue has been exhausted," he said.
"People in power have refused to make the decisions they should have ... I don't think our politicians have done enough. The message from our government has been ambiguous."
It was time for politicians to make a stand and ensure no more Australians met Nguyen's fate, Mr Murphy said.
"They need to do more in the region to ensure that we don't allow countries like Singapore to continue to engage in this barbaric act," he said.
"It is absolutely unacceptable, it is uncalled for, it is disproportionate and it must end here and now."
In Melbourne 300 people walked from Federation Square to the Queen Victoria Gardens as part of an Amnesty International candelight vigil.
There were no speakers at the Melbourne vigil, but prayers were held and lit candles were placed in the garden's pond.