I have always doubted that Singapore would ever relent and grant clemency to death row Aussie inmate Nguyen Van Tuong , convicted of carrying 398 gms of Heroin while on his way back to Australia. But whatever flimsy hope there might have existed for Nguyen's supporters, that too has now been shockingly crushed to shreds by Aussie PM John Howard’s quite unnecssary and unhelpful statement.
There have been strong domestic political pressure on the Aussie PM to make a personal appeal to his Singapore counterpart for clemency for Nguyen. But Howard has publicly ruled out making any such personal pleas.
He stated that Australians are opposed to the death sentence, and that he believed Nguyen should not be executed because of his previous clean record and mitigating circumstances. Nonetheless, Howard averred he won’t make a personal appeal for Nguyen.
Then, horror of horrors he added, virtually fatal for Nguyen in the context of the general Australian appeals, that the execution would not hurt Australia's relationship with Singapore.
I am sure Howard didn’t intended for it, but his declaration of continuing friendly relationship with Singapore in the midst of strong Aussie appeals for clemency for Nguyen was totally unnecessarily, irrelevant, untimely, unhelpful for the young Aussie on Singapore's death row, and as good as hammering the final nail into the poor bloke’s coffin
It would have been better if Howard had remained silent.
Socially, exaggeration is often whimsical. But when a government dramatically inflates numbers to help justify a death sentence, the integrity of both the trial and its governing body becomes questionable. In this case, the government is Singapore, the trial was for Van Tuong Nguyen, and the bloated number is 26,000.
ReplyDeletePress from around the world quotes Abdullah Tarmugi, the Speaker of Singapore Parliament, in writing about the potential consequences of Van's actions, "almost 400 grams of pure heroin, enough for more than 26,000 doses."
But how was 26,000 doses (or "hits") derived?
It turns out that what constitutes a hit of heroin is not an easy thing to count. There are dozens of factors to consider; contact your local Needle Exchange for a comprehensive list. However, after collecting statistics from over a dozen sources (including police reports, narcotics web sites, health information, and workers from needle exchanges), the number of hits from a gram of pure heroin averages out to little more than 14.
Van Tuong Nguyen trafficked 396.2 grams of heroin into Singapore. This is approximately 5,600 doses.
The numbers 5,600 and 26,000 are obviously incongruous, as are reports that 400 grams of heroin would "ruin 26,000 lives". In fact, 400 grams of heroin would not come close to ruining even 5,600 lives. Rather, the heroin would most likely supply people already abusing it. With a little more research, we can estimate how many lives would be adversely affected by 400 grams of heroin during one year:
As many as 67, and as few as 6.
Van Tuong Nguyen would not have sent 26,000 people to their deaths from 400 grams of heroin. Nor would the lives of 26,000 people have been ruined. Far more likely is that six people would get a year's worth of hits. And for this he must hang?
Call it dreadful, call it dense, call it incomprehensible ... but do not call it justice.
Sincerely,
Dave Jarvis
Dave, great stuff you have there - I may blog it. The trouble with politicians and statistics is the opportunity for unbridled creativity by the politicians to protect their interests.
ReplyDeleteAs we have learnt in school there are many ways of presenting stats, to either impress or dismay the readers. But coupled that flexibility with unscrupulous 'creativity' you get exaggerations, which are another form of lies.
RIP VAN NGUYEN
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad story it's heartbreaking one mistake I feel for his family
ReplyDeleteI will never travel or buy anything from Singspore absolute heartless morons