Lawyers for condemned trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van today stepped up the pressure for the Melbourne man to be allowed to hug his mother before his Friday execution in Singapore.
Lex Lasry, QC, also launched a blistering attack on city-state's use of the mandatory death penalty regime as he arrived for a final meeting with Nguyen.
"It shouldn't require a legal loophole for Nguyen to allowed to touch his mother before he goes to the gallows," Mr Lasry said after flying in at 10.30pm local time, (1am AEDT).
"It should simply be a matter of ordinary humanity that Singapore authorities surely must see that they have to be allowed to touch each other," he said.
Amnesty vigil
Amnesty International will hold a candlelight vigil for Nguyen in Melbourne's Federation Square tomorrow evening.
A silent candlelit procession of Nguyen supporters and anti-death penalty campaigners will parade up St Kilda Road at 7.30pm from Federation Square to the Queen Victoria Gardens, opposite the National Gallery of Victoria.
Speakers including Father Peter Hansen, who led a bilingual service for Nguyen at St Patrick's Cathedral earlier this month, will attend.
Candlelight vigils will also take place in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, and smaller events in Rockhampton, Warwick and Newcastle.
Nguyen's legal team is waiting for a response to their requests.
Barrister Julian McMahon said in Melbourne this morning that Ms Nguyen's right to hug and kiss her son had been denied for years.
Contact denied
"Whether or not Kim is granted the right to touch her son, we must not forget that firstly, she has been denied that right for three years and secondly, that every other mother and family member of every other person on death row in Singapore has been denied that right for many years as each one of their family members went to the gallows," he said.
Mr McMahon flies to Singapore this afternoon to join Mr Lasry for a final meeting with their client.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has also joined the call for Kim to have access to her son with a plea to both the Government in Singapore and the high commissioner in Australia.
"Well that is a very significant issue. It's one that I have raised with the Singapore Government and I've made it clear to the high commissioner that he should tell the Singapore Government that I am personally very exercised about this," Mr Downer said yesterday.
"So far the Singapore Government is considering this request. But I would have thought this was not an unreasonable thing for a mother to hug her son before the son in executed."
Nguyen was arrested at Changi Airport in December 2002 carrying almost 400 grams of heroin.
After all appeals for clemency from Canberra have failed, Nguyen faces the gallows at dawn on Friday.
Nguyen, 25, has received a stream of visitors from close family and friends over the past two weeks. Those visits will continue today and tomorrow.
But the condemned man and his mother, Kim Nguyen, and others have been separated by a thick pane of glass in the visiting room, allowing no physical contact.
There has been no word yet from the Singapore authorities whether the restriction will be relaxed in the remaining time before the dawn hanging on Friday.
Singapore unmoved
As the furore over Nguyen's imminent hanging has mounted, Singapore ministers have stuck to the line that Nguyen's punishment fits his crime.
They also argue that the use of mandatory capital punishment helps to keep illegal drugs out of the country.
Mr Lasry held out little hope for his client, who appears to have reconciled himself to his imminent death.
"It's got to be something out of the box, for sure, Mr Lasry said, when asked if it would take a miracle to save Nguyen now."
One of Nguyen's friends who visited yesterday, Kelly Ng, said he was in good spirits and had even made plans for his funeral, in part to save his friends the trouble.
"He just mentioned the songs he wants played (at the funeral)," said Ms Ng.
- AAP with Dewi Cooke...
