CANBERRA - Federal politicians are to present Singapore High Commissioner Joseph Koh with a petition calling for clemency for a young Australian on death row in Singapore.
More than 300 members of Parliament and their staff have signed the petition asking for clemency for 25-year-old Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van, who was caught trafficking heroin in 2002.
Nguyen faces execution, possibly as early as November 11, after losing a clemency appeal this month.
But he has been given new hope after a meeting between his lawyer, Lex Lasry, QC, and Prime Minister John Howard yesterday.
Lasry agreed during the meeting to provide the Government with information and to take unspecified action which could help the case.
"[Howard] showed significant interest, in effect making some progress on the case, and we will probably speak again about some of the issues we discussed."
Liberal backbencher Bruce Baird, chairman of the Amnesty International Parliamentary Group, was due to meet Koh today to hand over the petition.
- AAP
Australian politicians make death row plea
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