Australian cardinal says fight against death penalty is uphill battle

Published: 2005-12-05

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- After the execution of Australian drug smuggler Tuong Van Nguyen in a Singapore prison Dec. 2, Sydney Cardinal George Pell told reporters it would be an uphill battle to persuade political leaders in Southeast Asia to change their laws about capital punishment. "The difficulty is to be active in a way that might help our cause," Cardinal Pell told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. News. "You could very easily try to be active in this area and be counterproductive." As Nguyen was being executed in Changi Prison in Singapore Dec. 2, the bells of his parish church, St. Ignatius, in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, tolled 25 times, once for each year of his life. The parish had been the focus of prayers for Nguyen since his arrest in 2002 on charges of attempting to import 14 ounces of heroin from Cambodia into Australia. Nguyen had been caught in transit in Singapore, where the mandatory death sentence applies. He told authorities he had acted as a courier to clear a US$22,000 debt owed by his twin brother, Khoa, a former heroin addict.

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