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| Bassmaster |
 Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 9:09 pm Post subject: kiasu nation!!!! 'Singapore sacks hangman for Aussie'.. |
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
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Singapore sacks hangman before Australian execution
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has sacked its long-serving hangman, less than a week before the scheduled execution of an Australian drug smuggler, after his identity and picture was exposed by media.
"They called me a few days ago and said I don't have to hang Nguyen and that I don't have to work anymore," Chief executioner Darshan Singh told Reuters on Sunday.
"I think they (the prison authorities) must be mad after seeing my pictures in the newspapers," Singh said.
Australia's Sunday Telegraph said a new executioner was expected to be flown into Singapore this week to carry out the December 2 hanging of 25-year-old Nguyen Tuong Van, who was sentenced to death for carrying 400 grams (0.9 lb) of heroin while in transit at the island-nation's airport.
Singh, a 74-year-old ethnic Indian, was reported in the Australian media to have conducted more than 850 hangings in his 50-year career. The reports said Singh had wanted to retire, but the search for a replacement was unsuccessful.
Singapore's prison department could not be reached for comment.
Despite repeated pleas from Australia to reconsider clemency for the former salesman, Singapore has stood firm on its decision, saying that Nguyen was caught with enough heroin "for 26,000 doses" and that the government would not allow Singapore to be used as a transit for illicit drugs.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has warned Singapore to prepare for lingering resentment in Australia if it goes ahead with the execution of Nguyen, but Howard has rejected public calls in Australia for boycotts of Singaporean companies and trade sanctions with one of its closest Asian allies.
Howard made another personal appeal to Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta on Saturday, Australian media reported on Sunday.
"I did have quite a discussion with him and he was left in no doubt as to the intensity of feeling within Australia," Howard told reporters. "There will be lingering resentment on the part of many Australians regarding this issue.
"They (Singapore) are certainly carefully monitoring what is occurring, but I am equally of the view, as I have been now for some time, that the government of Singapore is not going to change its mind."
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also raised Nguyen's case during informal talks in Malta, media reported.
Singapore has one of the world's toughest drug laws. Laws enacted in 1975 stipulate death by hanging for anyone aged 18 or over convicted of carrying more than 15 grams (0.5 ounce) of heroin, 30 grams (1.1 ounce) of cocaine, 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of cannabis or 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of methamphetamines.
Amnesty International said in a 2004 report that about 420 people had been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, giving the city-state of 4.2 million people the highest execution rate in the world relative to population.
<b>Interview with a hangman</b>
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| liquidjive |
| Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:44 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 03 Dec 2003
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| Bassmaster |
| Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject: da hangdood's storey!! |
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
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<b>
The hangman who was originally hired to execute Australian drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen in Singapore has been revealed as a semi-retired 73-year-old grandfather.</b>
Darshan Singh was hired to place a rope around the 25-year-old's neck and say the words he has spoken to more than 850 condemned prisoners during his 46 years as Singapore's chief executioner.
"I am going to send him to a better place than this. God bless you."
Nguyen's hopes of escaping the gallows receded further when the Singaporean Government confirmed that it would not make an exception for the Australian.
Mr Singh has officially retired from the prison service but is called upon to carry out executions, for which he receives a fee of $S400 ($312).
Until now, his identity has been a closely guarded secret in Singapore.
Officials rarely comment on capital punishment, which is carried out without publicity behind the walls of Changi prison.
But The Australian can reveal today that the 73-year-old grandfather, who lives in a modest, government-owned apartment near the border with Malaysia, was originally asked to execute Nguyen unless the Singapore Government gives an unprecedented last-minute reprieve.
Mr Singh told The Australian yesterday that under the Official Secrets Act he was forbidden from speaking about his work.
A colleague and close friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Australian that Mr Singh wanted to give up his hangman's responsibilities and live quietly in retirement but the authorities were having trouble finding anyone to replace him.
"He tried to train two would-be hangmen to replace him, a Malaysian and a Chinese, both in the prison service," the colleague said.
"But when it came to pulling the lever for the real thing, they both froze and could not do it.
"The Chinese guy, a prison officer, became so distraught he walked out immediately and resigned from the prison service altogether."
Nguyen will meet Mr Singh a few days before he is executed and will be asked if he would like to donate his organs.
On the day before his execution, Mr Singh will lead him to a set of scales close to his death-row cell to weigh him.
Mr Singh will use the Official Table of Drops, published by the British Home Office in 1913, to calculate the correct length of rope for the hanging.
On the day of Nguyen's execution, Mr Singh will be picked up by a government vehicle and driven to the prison, arriving at 2am local time (0400 AEST) to prepare the gallows.
Shortly before 6am, he will handcuff Nguyen's hands behind his back and lead him on his final short walk to the gallows, just a few metres from the cell.
Mr Singh joined the British colonial prison service in the mid-1950s after arriving from Malaysia. When the long-established British hangman Mr Seymour retired, Singh, then 27, volunteered for the job. He was attracted by the bonus payment for executions.
Mr Singh is credited with being the only executioner in the world to single-handedly hang 18 men in one day -- three at a time.
They had been convicted of murdering four prison officers during a riot on the penal island of Pulau Senang in 1963.
He also hanged seven condemned men within 90 minutes a few years later. They had been convicted in what became known as the "gold bars murders", in which a merchant and two employees were killed during a robbery.
One of the most controversial executions in his career was the 1991 hanging of a young Filipina maid, Flor Contemplacion, who was convicted of the murder of a co-worker, Delia Maga, and her four-year-old son, on what many believed was shaky evidence.
He carries out the executions wearing simple casual clothes, often just a T-shirt, shorts, sports shoes and knee-length socks.
To mark his 500th hanging four years ago, four of his former colleagues turned up at his home to celebrate the event with a couple of bottles of Chivas Regal.
Mr Singh boasts that he has never botched an execution.
"Mr Seymour taught him just how long the drop should be according to weight and height and exactly where the knot should be placed at the back of the neck," his colleague said.
"Death has always come instantaneously and painlessly. In that split second, at precisely 6am, it's all over."
Mr Singh was an accomplished cricketer in his youth and was often opening bat.
"He is a keen soccer fan," his colleague said. "His favourite team is Manchester United. He watches all the English Premier League matches he can."
When his colleague asked him why he had stayed so long in such a gruesome job, he replied: "It's all I know. It has become my bread and butter."
"He also used to cane convicted criminals after training in this field," the colleague said.
"The pay then was 50cents per stroke. He could wield a cane as well as he could wield a cricket bat."
Mr Singh lives happily with his second wife and is close to their three adult adopted children.
His first wife left him years earlier because she could not accept what he did. He had kept it a secret from her for years.
Mr Singh reportedly spends time getting to know the condemned prisoners, especially those who do not receive visitors or religious support.
"He is a very kindly man and although it's his job to end their lives he does feel for them," his friend said. "Mr Singh tries to comfort them if they are completely alone in the world at such a horrible time."
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| liquidjive |
| Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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hehe dude. thanks for the other part of the news.
i was referring to the earlier post
the earlier post sings more about nguyen, despite the title
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| HuntressM00n |
| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 01 Sep 2005
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can they really hang that dude?
he looks rather beefy. i bet he will survive
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| omarjamaludin |
| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 18 Feb 2004
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| HuntressM00n |
| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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ye ke? aisey.. tak baca betul2
mungkin lepas dia hang orang tu, dia mam mam dia.. thats why rupa dia camtu kan kan
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| Bassmaster |
| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:42 pm Post subject: dat beeg harry dood''s da hangman zis!! |
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
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<b>& da storey geds sickker...</b>
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Hangman to sue if sacked
Alan Shadrake and Elizabeth Colman
November 30, 2005
SINGAPORE'S chief executioner has threatened to sue his Government for unfair dismissal if he is sacked from the job that would have him hang Australian Nguyen Tuong Van at 6am on Friday.
Darshin Singh, the 73-year-old executioner who has hanged 850 prisoners in 46 years, said he was still unsure if he would be the one to execute Van.
Mr Singh has been caught in a media storm since his identity was revealed by The Australian four weeks ago. "I have been told I will not be doing this one," he said. "But I have no idea who will be able to do this. No one has been trained to take over."
His comments came as the Australian Government conceded that all legal avenues to prevent Van's execution had been exhausted. Solicitor-General David Bennett contacted Van's legal team at Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's urging yesterday to suggest asking Singapore to again review the case, saying the country's constitution appeared to allow a second appeal.
"But he was unaware we had already asked (the Singapore Government) for another review and that was declined," said Van lawyer Lex Lasry QC.
Mr Singh said if he was called on to execute 25-year-old Van he would do it quickly and efficiently, whereas an inexperienced hangman could make mistakes and prolong the Melbourne man's suffering. "With me, they (the prisoners) don't struggle. I know the real way. If it's a raw guy, they will struggle like chickens," Mr Singh said.
But Foreign Minister Alexander Downer rebuked Mr Singh for speaking out about his technique for hanging. "I think the executioner should keep his thoughts and his ideas to himself," Mr Downer said.
Mr Singh said a government official visited him yesterday to warn him against any further media interviews.
"They told me that if I give any more interviews or allow myself to be photographed my goose will be cooked."
He said he expected to receive an official letter from the Government telling him his services were terminated and if that happened he would consider suing for wrongful dismissal.
But Singaporean prison authorities yesterday denied Mr Singh's services had been terminated, saying there was no change to his status.
A spokeswoman refused to say whether he would hang Van.
Mr Lasry, who will visit Van tomorrow and Thursday in Changi prison, called on Van's mother, Kim, to be allowed some physical contact with her son when visiting. So far all visits have been held behind a screen.
He said Van had accepted his fate. "He'll be more concerned about us than he will be about himself," he said. "This is a young man who is ready to die, and he's ready to die a good death and a brave death."
Van's friends, Kelly Ng and Bronwyn Lew, said he had found an inner peace, was in surprisingly good spirits and was not counting down the days until his execution.
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<b>& a S$10 meel 4 da hangee...</b>
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S$10 meal final treat for death-row Aussie
Russell Robinson
30nov05
TUONG Van Nguyen will be allowed to order a takeaway meal – to the value of $8 – as a last grim treat before he is hanged on Friday. A strict price was put on a prisoner's final meal, former Changi warders said.
"The prisoner's last meal could be anything, but it had a specific price – and that was up to $S10," said a death row officer who retired about three years ago.
Such a takeaway meal could include a hamburger, chips, desert and jumbo soft drink; or roast duck and noodles.
Nguyen's last meal will be served tomorrow night, just hours before he is hanged at 6am on Friday (9am Melbourne time).
The condemned Melbourne drug trafficker will also have the choice of usual prison fare – Malay, Singaporean, Chinese, or even European food.
Friends Bronwyn Lew and Kelly Ng, who visited Nguyen yesterday, said he was remarkably composed.
Ms Lew said he told them: "If you're going to cry, please cry in front of me so that we can through this together."
The friends joined Nguyen's mother Kim and twin brother Khoa for the death-row visit.
They were able to pass on letters, photos and CDs from supporters.
Again they were separated from Nguyen by glass, but Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has implored Singapore to allow Mrs Nguyen to hug her son before he dies.
Providing a macabre backdrop to farewells for 25-year-old Nguyen were comments by Singapore hangman Darshan Singh.
Singh said if he carries out the execution it will be quick and efficient.
"With me, they don't struggle. I know the real way," he said.
"If it's a raw guy (an untried hangman), they will struggle like chickens, like fish out of the water," Mr Singh said at his spacious apartment, as his baby granddaughter played at his feet.
Mr Singh, 74, has carried out more than 800 executions in 45 years.
But it has not been confirmed he will execute Nguyen, sentenced to death after being caught at Singapore airport in 2002 with nearly 400 grams of heroin.
Mr Singh said on Sunday he had been sacked by jail authorities after his identity was revealed.
But Singapore's prison department said yesterday Mr Singh had not been fired and was still a contract officer.
Officials would not confirm whether Mr Singh or a replacement would undertake the grim task for a standard fee of $320.
Mr Singh said he had developed close relationships with some condemned prisoners.
"They became my friends and wanted me to hang them. One of the fellows even asked me to give him his final haircut," he said.
Murderers and drug-traffickers deserved to die, Mr Singh said, and their punishment was a means of "complete rehabilitation".
"I'm changing their character to a different one because I believe in rebirth and they will be better men next time."
Foreign Affairs Minister Downer said the hangman's comments were completely inappropriate and he should keep them to himself.
Nguyen's lawyer Lex Lasry said the debate about who would execute Nguyen and the efficiency of hanging techniques was grotesque.
"It adds a bizarre feature to what is already a shocking injustice," he said. "It's revolting, frankly. If our client must die I want him to die a painless death."
One former Changi officer said a typical death cell comprised a mat on the concrete floor where the prisoner slept, a toilet and a sink.
"No windows, just a barred door," he said.
He said the gallows were about 100m from the cell block, and when asked to describe the scaffolding, he said: "Something out of an old Western movie."
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