I didn't pay much attention to Nguyen Tuong Van's case until I was browsing through Mooiness after taking a long break from the virtual world, only did I realise the guy in the picture looks quite familiar. I squinted my eyes and thought to myself, it can't be. I must have mistaken him for someone else. Then Tongs broke the news to me one night when I dragged him to attend a friend's wedding with me.That guy is Van. How could I be so stupid? How could I not tell? I got to know the twins Van and Khoa when I was doorbitching at some club couple of years ago to help earn some extra dole for shopping. Van and his brother used to promote for the club. They were nice people who helped out sometimes when drunkards get out of hand and start hassling me.
Part of me is really upset to know that someone I actually know, is to be hung. Part of me is feeling really angry for his stupidity. How could he traffick drugs to all places but Singapore? It is a confirmed death penalty. Singaporeans will not let you off hook. Hang on, rephrase. How could he traffick drugs in the first place?
Van, I know you needed to help your brother with the debts, but there's always some other ways to work around it. You are a stupid, stupid idiot.
Damn it. I'm getting too emo. Getting emo and having a high fever at the same time, is not a good feeling.
Van will now leave us forever on 2 December 2005. There is nothing we can do to let him live. All we can do now is pray hard enough, that his execution would be fast and painless. May Van's smile live in our heart, forever.
This dude did a really well covered follow-up of the case:
8 comments:
we pray that he will not suffer.
damn that's so ... small world-ish. it hits you harder when you know the person.
yeah many other ways to repay the debt - it was a most unwise decision to traffic drugs anywhere through SE Asia.
mooi: Trust me, it can be quite devestating. I'm still feeling blank until now. Times like this, you just don't know how to react anymore.
On the decision to traffic drugs to pay off the debt, ppl do things without thinking twice when one is driven into despair.
After researching various sources, I've found that one gram of heroin accounts for 14.13 doses ("hits"). This implies that 396.2 grams would deliver 5598 hits, or 4.6 times less than the 26,000 hits estimated by the Singapore government in the Van Tuong Nguyen trial.
Also, equating one hit with one ruined life is a gross exaggeration. My analysis shows that 5598 hits would supply heroin to approximately 15 addicts, or 67 average users, for one year.
I have attached the results of my findings; I encourage you to perform your own independent research.
Would someone please tell me how adversely affecting the lives of up to 67 people justifies a death sentence?
Sincerely,
Dave Jarvis
Estimated Number of Hits per Gram of Heroin
---------------------------------------------------------------------
21.43 hits/gram = 300000 hits / 14000 grams
5.26 hits/gram = 2000000 hits / 380000 grams
10.00 hits/gram = 10000 hits / 1000 grams
20.07 hits/gram = 111 hits / 5.53 grams
6.25 hits/gram = 5000 hits / 800 grams
25.51 hits/gram = 2500 hits / 98 grams
5.00 hits/gram = 5000 hits / 1000 grams
19.08 hits/gram = 5 hits / 0.262 grams
16.06 hits/gram = 4000 hits / 249 grams
12.62 hits/gram = 10000 hits / 396.2 grams
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Average: 14.13 hits/gram
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated usage for 396.2 grams: 14.13 * 396.2 = 5598 hits
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Singapore's estimated usage for 396.2 grams: 26000 hits
65.26 hits/gram = 26000 hits / 396.2 grams
Singapore's ruling over-estimates the number of hits by 4.6 times.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Usage: 2.8 hits / day
Regular Habit: 2.5 usages / month = 30 usages / year
Total: 30 * 2.8 = 84 hits / year
Result: 5598 hits supplies 67 average users for one year
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Usage: 2.8 hits / day
Addict Habit: 2.5 usages / week = 130 usages / year
Total: 130 * 2.8 = 364 hits / year
Result: 5598 hits supplies 15 addicts for one year
At the end of this letter are quotes that describe the potential complications during hanging. Although macabre, I do have a point to make; bear with me.
I believe it is insufficient to examine the body afterwards to determine if death was instantaneous. Modern medical technology must be used, during execution, to monitor the vital signs of prisoners sentenced to hang. Their pulse, breathing, and electrical impules of both the spinal column and brain must be tracked.
This is possible using a wireless connection to transmit physiological data, or by threading wires up through the noose, back to a central computer station. Either way, it is technically possible to monitor the state of the body throughout execution. Furthermore, the results of the tracking must be made public and be interpreted by an independent third-party (associated with neither the government nor prison).
My point:
If any hanging does not result in instantaneous death, then all hanging shall be henceforth declared inhumane. Additionally, all countries that have hanging as a punishment must subsequently be asked to abolish it or be expelled from the United Nations (as per the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Part III, Article 7).
Lastly, countries that do not fully monitor all vital signs of prisoners during execution should also be expelled from the United Nations on the grounds that hanging has not been scientifically proven to cause instantaneous death in all cases (again, invoking Article 7 of the aforementioned Covenant).
Regards,
Dave Jarvis
33 Dock St.
Victoria, BC, V8V1Z9
Canada
250-598-9194
--
The consequences of hanging follow.
"However, according to Harold Hillman, a British physiologist who has studied executions, "the dangling person probably feels cervical pain, and suffers from an acute headache, as a result of the rope closing off the veins of the neck. It had been generally assumed that fracture-dislocation of the neck causes instantaneous loss of sensation. Sensory pathways from below the neck are ruptured, but the sensory signals from the skin above the noose and from the trigeminal nerve may continue to reach the brain until hypoxia blocks them."
"In the opinion of Dr. Cornelius Rosse, the chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Washington School of Medicine, the belief that fracture of the spinal cord causes instantaneous death is wrong in all but a small fraction of cases."
"However, instantaneous death rarely occurs. If the inmate has strong neck muscles, is very light, if the 'drop' is too short, or the noose has been wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation is not rapid and death results from slow asphyxiation. If this occurs the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the eyes pop, the body defecates, and violent movements of the limbs occur."
"There are mostly two problems with hanging: If the delinquent falls too fast, he would get decapitated. If he falls too slow he would die through suffocation and this is not a fast and painless death.
"By a proper height of fall these problems could be avoided. Therefore the kind of gallows was constructed that we know today. 13 steps leading to a platform with a trap opening to the below. The space below the platform is covered by a curtain to spare the witnesses from seeing the dead body. To avoid physical fight, the delinquent is tied on hands and feet. He gets a hood over his head, this is meant to lessen the noises a human being is doing when suffocated. And also through this the witnesses do not have to see the face expression in the moment of the death."
"A physical examination and measuring process is conducted to assure almost instant death and a minimum of bruising. If careful measuring and planning is not done, strangulation, obstructed blood flow, or beheading could result. At the appropriate time on execution day, the inmate, in restraints, is escorted to the gallows area and is placed standing over a hinged trap door from which the offender will be dropped. Following the offender's last statement, a hood is placed over the offender's head. Restraints are also applied. If the offender refuses to stand or cannot stand, he is placed on a collapse board. A determination of the proper amount of the drop of the condemned offender through the trap door is calculated using a standard military execution chart for hanging. The "drop" must be based on the prisoner's weight, to deliver 1260 foot_pounds of force to the neck. The noose is then placed snugly around the convict's neck, behind his or her left ear, which will cause the neck to snap. The trap door then opens, and the convict drops. If properly done, death is caused by dislocation of the third and fourth cervical vertebrae, or by asphyxiation."
"Hanging often led to a slow and cruel death as the prisoner strangled on the rope and this led to invention of the electric chair in 1891 (which became the most widely used method in the 20th century, being inflicted, at its peak by 27 states, and from 1921 the gas chamber which was adopted in 11 states)."
whatever la. just..like..what the fuck la..
stu-pid.
reminds me of the time my brother got busted @ zouk singapore for 2 tabs of E...
although in this case it's 400g's of heroine... why does everyone still want to risk going through singapore or malaysia, even though they know the risks involved?
they should use an alternate route, maybe like india or something where the cops aren't so busy busting dope dealers..
i remember just sitting over-night at changi, the fuckin dope police came in a whole unit(maybe 15 of them)all armed to the teeth with rifles and machine guns, askin me for my passport and what not.. wah... almost piss in my pants cuz i was just commin off a week long binge..
Post a Comment