The approach of Van Nguyen's execution for drug trafficking in Singapore ignited a wave of sympathy for the 25-year-old man in his homeland of Australia. But the Singapore government was utterly deaf to repeated appeals for clemency from Australia's governor-general, prime minister, foreign minister, opposition leader, state and federal parliaments, Catholic hierarchy and numerous others. Altogether, the Australian government made over 30 attempts. Both Pope John II and Pope Benedict XVI also made unsuccessful appeals on his behalf.

One might have congratulated the Singapore government for standing firm on the rule of law. In fact, there is no rule of law with mandatory death sentencing. It is a broad-brush approach to life and death that has no place in a civilised society. It prevents the judge from taking nuances of the case into account when sentencing.

Van Nguyen was a first-time offender with no previous criminal record. He was 22 when he was caught with 396 grams of heroine while in transit at Changi Airport on his way to Australia. He got into debt himself while trying to pay off the debts of his problematic twin brother. At that time, he was desperate for quick money. He chose a course of action that was seriously wrong. But it is unfit that a fleeting act of immaturity, stupidity or greed should be answered by a permanent, irreversible penalty. A long prison sentence would have been a more humane and appropriate punishment. In the three years of his incarceration, Van Nguyen, thoroughly rehabilitated, was well liked by prison warders and other inmates who turned to his positive outlook for solace.

While some may agree to capital punishment for certain violent offences, executing all petty couriers and users found with more than 15 grams of heroine cannot possibly be justified when the real kingpins are seldom ever caught. As a deterrent, it fails completely. You can easily recruit Australian teenagers as drug mules for little more than an overseas holiday and a few thousand dollars reward. Do we execute people for stupidity or for their evil?

In refusing clemency, the Singapore government made much of the fact that the heroin Van Nguyen carried could have cause untold misery to addicts. While this is true, drug addicts must also take some responsibility for their actions since they are the ones who created the market. The truth is that we live in a morally inconsistent world where tobacco and alcohol, which cause far more deaths than hard drugs, are permitted.

Singapore cannot shield itself with the rights of its sovereignty when it is equally the right of our common humanity to protest against acts that are wrong for being cruel and barbaric.

The final act to this sad drama showed how pitiless the Singapore government really is. All visitors were separated from the condemned man by a thick glass panel. But Van Nguyen's mother, crushed, inconsolable and heartbroken, desired only to hug her son one last time. It took the voice of Australian PM John Howard for this plea to be heard but even then, the request was only partially granted. In Australia, there was an outpouring of compassion as mother and son were allowed to hold hands through a grill but not to hug on the eve of the hanging.