Richard Ackland writes that "one Australian hanged in Singapore a week ago. Nine others face the firing squad in Bali if they are convicted of drug trafficking. Michelle Leslie walks after doing three months for ecstasy possession. And there's still Schapelle Corby, doing 15 years in Kerobokan prison for what bears all the hallmarks of a rotten miscarriage of justice.
Throughout this, senior members of the Government lecture us to not get emotional and certainly to not upset the Indonesians or the Singaporeans. Academics in the field have written that criticism of Corby's original trial is "disturbing". One columnist even said the campaign against the Corby trial outcome was a sign of our "immaturity".
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, showing the depth of his prickly side, declared that the Melbourne criminal defence lawyer Robert Richter was a "creep" for stating the truth - that the Australian Government did not do enough to save Nguyen Tuong Van...
While on matters insensitive, it might be well to recall the little dance the Government did on the Nguyen case. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister went through their hand-wringing routine while, at the same time, never letting down the hardliners. John Howard and Downer dropped the remark into various bits of news commentary that Nguyen was smuggling enough heroin for between 20,000 and 26,000 hits.
Janet Manuell, a criminal barrister in Sydney, says this misinformation went unchallenged. The average hit available on the streets of Sydney contains between 0.15 and 0.2 grams of heroin, she says, which is a standard "foil". It costs about $50. The 400 grams for which Nguyen was executed was enough for between 2000 and 2667 hits, not 26,000. Howard and Downer were only out by a factor of 10, but, if the prejudice works, who cares?"
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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.
Press 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 was executed?
Call it dreadful, call it dense, call it incomprehensible ... but do not call it justice.
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