The rather stupid notion and pointless hope of ending diplomatic relations with Singapore

In my e-mail inbox today (along with LOADS of returned mail from my server because arsehole spammers are spoofing my domain name):

Please forgive the intrusion.

Nguyen Tuong Van is to die this Friday. We must convince as many governments as possible to terminate diplomatic relations with Singapore if Van is executed. This may force Singapore to reconsider its actions.

First, thank you for taking time to sign a petition to grant Van clemency. We now ask that you take another action to save his life.

Nearly 40 contact addresses of World Leaders and Foreign Ministers have been collected. The recipients have influence over their country’s diplomatic relationship with Singapore. Please send them an e-mail, asking that all diplomatic relations with Singapore be terminated if Van is hanged.

His letter to world leaders can be found online.

Shouldn’t he then also agitate for suspension of diplomatic relations with Indonesia and Malaysia, since they also advocate the death penalty for drug smugglers? Why is this case special? Is it because he’s 25, is it because he’s Australian, is it because he was only in transit through Singapore when he was caught?

I don’t have to agree with the application of the death penalty in this case, but you have to admit that he was pretty fucking stupid to take the drugs through Singapore when its stance towards drug trafficking isn’t exactly ambiguous. If leaders of other nations took a stand against Singapore because of this moral problem, one wonders if they then shouldn’t suspend diplomatic and trade relations with other countries that are somewhat… blurry in the application of justice and fairness.

Why is Singapore being singled out? Is it because it can be used as an example with minimal political damage to its trading partners in the West? If Nguyen Tuong Van wanted to live, he shouldn’t have agreed to courier the drugs via Singapore. He was an idiot. He’s going to pay disproportionately for being an idiot, and it’s right for people to be upset, but the law is the law — it wasn’t harsher, nor did it only apply to him.

If it was my relative or friend who was about to be executed, yes, I’d be sad, I’d wish it were different, hell, I might even protest, but every time I read about a drug trafficker being caught in Singapore, my automatic reaction is, How can you be so fucking dense, thinking you’ll get away with it in Singapore?

(I’ve written about this many times before, and my views are probably pretty damn obvious, but it riles me up every time someone thinks just because the victim (prisoner?) is [insert mitigating circumstances here], they deserve special treatment above and beyond the clearly laid down laws. World leaders aren’t going to let their country’s commercial and diplomatic interests change because of one person who broke the laws in another country, and who will now suffer the consequences. Unless it’s the leader’s own offspring, I suppose.)