A STUDYGUIDE BY MaRGUERITE OHaRa

www.metromagazine.com.au www.theeducationshop.com.au

Just Punishment

KHOA NGUYEn DEPARTS MELBOURnE

Imagine you were offered the chance to pay off your debts by carrying drugs into Australia from an Asian country. The package weighs almost 400 grams, less than a half kilo bag of sugar. You know there are heavy penalties if you are found with the stuff but decide to take the risk, carefully concealing the drugs in your luggage and on you.

ou are a bit nervous but hope youll get through. Airport security is suspicious and searches you. The drugs are found and you are detained, arrested and charged with drug trafcking. At the trial, almost two years after your arrest, you are found guilty. The penalty for trafcking fteen grams of heroin or more is death. For more than a year your lawyers go through various appeal processes but you feel increasingly despondent as judges in this country have no discretion about sentencing for drug smuggling.

Your mother and your friends visit as often as they can, but as a condemned prisoner there is no hugging or touching and you are a long way from home. You know how worried they are and feel terrible for causing your friends and family so much pain and shame. The appeals have all failed including a plea from the Australian government to spare your life. You now have only a few days to live before you are hanged.

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Just Punishment

Just Punishment is a onehour documentary lm about the legal processes and the human story that led to the hanging of Van Nguyen in Singapore in December 2005. In telling the story behind the ght to save his life, it asks us to consider whether this was just punishment.

ABOVE: BROnnI REACHOUT CAmPAIGn RIGHT: KIm NGYUEn

Synopsis
On 2 December 2005 Van Nguyen, a 24-year-old Australian, was hanged by the state of Singapore for trafcking 396 grams of heroin. Van was the rst Australian to be executed in many years and his story ooded news outlets across the country. Filmed over two years, Just Punishment tells the story behind the media face of Van Nguyen and the remarkable journey to try to keep him alive. In the weeks preceding Van Nguyens hanging, the Australian public was gripped by media reports detailing the unceasing efforts to save the young drug dealers life. Despite the number of states within the Asian region who practise capital punishment, it had been twelve years since an Australian citizen faced execution. The media interest was intense, diplomatic tension ensued and public opinion was split. Van became the pin-up boy for a number of causes: a symbol of the injustice of Singapores mandatory death sentence system, a lesson on the impact of drug trafcking and an example of the power of reformation. At the moment of his execution, thousands of people attended

vigils and church services across the country. Van Nguyens story had captured a nation. Three years earlier, Van was arrested whilst in transit at Singapores Changi Airport. He was found with heroin strapped to his body and in his hand luggage. Under Singapores strict drug laws he automatically faced a mandatory death sentence. Van was not a seasoned drug trafcker, he had no prior criminal record and this trip was the rst time he had left Australia. Vans friends and family were shocked by the news of his arrest, including his twin brother who was, in part, the motivation for Vans ill-fated trip. His arrest brought together an unlikely group who formed Vans inner circle as his case moved from legal process to a diplomatic plea. Just Punishment traces Vans change from naive, young man to someone who became wise beyond his years, who in the face of the hangmans noose came to fearlessly accept his fate and leave peace in the hearts of those who fought to save him. Told through a mixture of exclusive interviews, unseen observational footage and excerpts from Vans prison diaries,

Just Punishment tracks the personal stories of Van and his inner circle over the two years from death sentence to execution. Van Nguyens story affected everyone who came to know it, from those closest to him to the highest levels of Australian politics. It is a story that is guaranteed to remain in our conscience for a while yet.

Curriculum Relevance
Just Punishment will have relevance for middle and senior secondary students of: -Legal Studies understanding the ways in which legal and human processes are both intricately connected and subject to inexible laws. Politics understanding both the limits and complexities involved in

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LEFT: KIm & BROnnI COUnTDOWn BEGInS ABOVE: KELLY NG

THE LaWyERs
--applying diplomatic pressure within a regional setting. International Studies the differences in legal approaches within different societies in the same region. Studies of Society a study of what both divides and connects people from different backgrounds and cultures. Media Studies constructing a documentary with a committed perspective. English looking at social and political issues as part of a study of Issues and Argument. the lm, capital punishment and the lmmakers intentions. -Julian McMahon Melbourne barrister Lex Lasry Melbourne Queens Counsel (QC) Joseph Theseira Vans Singaporean lawyer

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People in the lm
THE FaMiLy
-Van Tuong Nguyen the convicted drug smuggler -- Kim Nguyen mother of Van and Khoa -- Khoa Nguyen Vans twin brother (Vietnamese names are often written in the following order: family or surname, middle name, given name. This is the opposite of names in Australia. Nguyen is the most common family name in Vietnam, as Smith is here)

Capital Punishment
Capital punishment is the state sanctioned taking of a persons life as the penalty for committing a crime. Here is some background information on the current situation concerning the use of capital punishment in Australasia. It comes from a Lowy Institute Report, the complete text of which can be accessed at: http://www.lowyinstitute.org/ Publication.asp?pid=433 Below is a summary of the major points.

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The lm demonstrates how a legal and political case can best be understood through developing an understanding of its human dimensions. The activities in this guide encourage students to look at the lm from three related perspectives: 1. The human stories of the people involved 2. The legal and moral issues 3. The process of constructing the documentary Before watching the lm, it is suggested that teachers read through the background information about the people in

THE FRiEnds
-Kelly Ng, Goldgan Ng, Bronwyn Lew

THE POLitiCians
-----John Howard Prime Minister of Australia Alexander Downer Foreign Minister of Australia Lee Hsieng Loong Prime Minister of Singapore Kim Beazley then leader of the Australian Opposition Rob Hulls Victorian AttorneyGeneral

Seventy-one countries and territories around the world retain and use the death penalty. Fifteen Asian states retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes (i.e. crimes other than terrorism). Singapore executes more people per capita than any other country in the world: 6.9 executions per one million people. Five Asian countries have abolished the death penalty over the last decade; these include Cambodia, Nepal, Timor-

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MELBOURnE AIRPORT

Leste, Bhutan & the Philippines. Studies have shown the death penalty is disproportionately imposed on the poorest, least educated and most vulnerable members of society. Van Nguyen was the first Australian to be executed in Singapore since independence and the rst Australian executed overseas since 1993. In 1967, Ronald Ryan was the last person hanged in Australia. Australia has abolished the death penalty in all states. Australian public opinion is divided on the merits of the death penalty. Australia is a signatory to international covenants that denounce the use of capital punishment for all crimes as an issue of human rights. In December 2005, what did Australians think about the application of the death penalty, particularly just days before Van Nguyens execution?

Two days before Van Nguyen was hanged in Singapore, a Morgan Poll was conducted in Australia and people were asked whether they thought he should be executed for his crime. The results showed people to be evenly divided: Forty-seven per cent said the death penalty should be carried out Forty-six per cent said the death penalty should not be carried out Seven per cent were undecided. The poll also showed that only twentyseven per cent of people believed the penalty for murder should be death, sixty-six per cent said imprisonment should be the penalty and seven per cent could not say.1

Open Channel Productions, a screen development and resource centre in Melbourne. Kim Beamish writer, director and coproducer of Just Punishment Shannon Owen writer, director and coproducer of Just Punishment In their Directors Statement about the making of Just Punishment, Beamish and Owen acknowledge their committed position in relation to opposition to capital punishment when they say about the lm: In some small way we hope it echoes the campaign purpose in which it was originally conceived; and that it challenges audiences to rethink their position in relation not only to Vans execution but to the question of capital punishment in all cases. (The complete text of the Directors Statement is included later in this guide)

The lmmakers
Liz Burke co-producer of Just Punishment and then Executive Producer of

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LEFT: LEX AnD JULIAn AT APPEAL

Activity 2 Watching the lm

As suggested earlier in this guide, there are three interrelated stories in this lm: (1) the human story, (2) the legal and moral issues and (3) the process involved in constructing the documentary. These three elements are tightly interwoven in the lm, particularly through the editing. Questions under one heading often relate to all three aspects of the lm. Different groups of students could focus on their allocated or chosen area as they watch the lm. Afterwards, students could share their responses and observations in bringing it all together.

Activity 1 Before watching the lm

Make a class list of what you believe are the purposes of punishment for people who have been convicted of lawbreaking? What do you believe are the most serious crimes? What legal penalties should be applied to those convicted of committing serious crimes? Should judges and juries take into account the age of offenders in handing down sentences? Should judges be able to impose lighter sentences on people who cooperate with authorities, particularly when this leads to the arrest of major criminals, so-called Big Fish? Should individuals convicted of crimes in other countries be allowed to serve

their sentences in their country of citizenship? Terms used in newspapers to characterize those accused of crimes or connected to alleged criminals are often loaded with connotations. Which of these terms used in headlines predispose readers to view the person negatively drug mule, drug smuggler, drug courier, drug trafcker, drug boss? Which terms are most likely to invite public condemnation? List the arguments in favour of capital punishment that might be offered by Governments such as those of Singapore, China, Iran and several states in America who still impose this ultimate penalty for a range of crimes. Should governments ever take another persons life as punishment for committing a crime? If so, list crimes where you think such a penalty is justied

1. The Human Story family and friends

How do the opening scenes and the voiceover at Vans funeral in Melbournes St. Patricks Cathedral establish something of the mood and tone of this lm? What does Khoa, Vans twin brother have to say at this stage of the lm about what has happened to his brother? What does Kim Nguyen (the twins mother) say about the difference between her two sons as they were growing up? What is Kelly Ngs connection to the Nguyen family and particularly to Van? As the legal team prepare for the Appeal against Vans conviction, what do we learn about Vans life since completing school? How does Bronwyn (Vans ex-girlfriend)

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ABOVE: KHOA NGUYEn On THE EvE Of VAnS EXECUTIOn. RIGHT: KIM WITH VAnS COffIn

What do we learn from Lasrys account of what happened in the courtroom during the appeal hearing? On what evidence do the chances of the initial verdict being overturned depend? Awaiting the result of the Appeal What does Goldgan Ng, Vans school friend who is in Singapore, have to say about Singaporean attitudes to the sentencing of drug trafckers? How does he explain why his attitude is different? What is the outcome of the Appeal? What do you think Lasry means when he describes the result of the Appeal process as just another very brief and very impersonal and unsympathetic legal proceeding. The international stage and the politicians What does Mr Howard request and how does Mr Lee respond? What is Mr Lees stated reasons for Singapores rm line on this issue? What is Australian Foreign Minister Downers view on the proposed execution? Who else does he say has made diplomatic representations to Singapore on Vans behalf? Applying for clemency the next stage in the legal process What does Julian McMahon reveal about the chances of a successful clemency appeal? Some of the reasons for requesting

describe her meeting with Van in Changi prison? What does Kelly Ng tell us about the glass separating prisoner from visitor? In what context is Kim Nguyen presented at this stage in the lm? How do Kelly Ng, Julian McMahon and Lex Lasry react to the outcome of the Appeal? How Khoa, Van and the family and friends are dealing with the changing situation What is Khoas state of mind at this stage in the process to save his brother? How does he suggest being a junkie affected his behaviour and feelings? What do the voiceover excerpts from Vans diary indicate about his mental state at this time? What public and highly symbolic campaign do Vans friends, Kelly and Bronni, organize to let the Singapore Prime Minister know how people feel about the imminent hanging of Van Nguyen? Final days and pleas for compassion What do the quotes from Vans diary suggest about his mental and spiritual state? How does Lasry describe the changes he has observed in Van?

Does he share the religious faith Van now seems to have embraced? When Kim Nguyen meets with John Howard about her son, how does she report his response to her to the lawyers and others committed to saving Vans life? When all hope seems lost, what does Kim, Vans mother, say about the decision to execute her son?

2. The legal and moral issues and the lawyers

How much time was there between Vans arrest and his execution? The screen text The Appeal, Melbourne, 12th May 2004 introduces us to the two Melbourne lawyers who worked to save Vans life. Who are they? How did McMahon and Lasry each become involved in Vans case? How does each lawyer talk about the death penalty? Does the appeal process allow for any consideration of matters about Vans life and character? On what grounds is the appeal against the judgement being made? What does Joseph Theseira, Vans Singaporean lawyer, want the court to understand about this case? Are Singaporean judges allowed any exibility in sentencing people convicted of drug offences?

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FINAL WORDS SYMBOLS AND ONGOING COMMITMENT TO THE CAUSE
During the nal footage of Vans white funeral, we hear several voices of those involved in this case. LASRY SAYS: Were going to talk about the case as a symbol in relationship to the ght against mandatory death penalty, the symbol for transformation and the symbol for changing and improving the situation, no matter how difcult. KIm NGUYEn SAYS: I want to make Van happy. I have to promise him dont feel sad let him go happy. KHOA SAYS: It doesnt do anything that can help anyone if I continue to blame myself. JULIAn MCMAHOn SAYS: Justice is one of the elements that make up a society, a community and how we deal with justice, how we treat those who offend the principles of justice is who we are and how we live and what we say about ourselves. VAn, fROm HIS DIARY, WRITES: I am not special, nor am I most of the other great things said about me. Im of no more value than the person next to me, nor am I any less. I think I understand now, I wasnt born to die, you Lord created me to live.

How do McMahon, Lasry and Theseira deal with the news that the clemency request has been refused by the Singapore government? What final attempt does Lasry make to stop the execution of Van? How does the Australian Parliament respond to the decision in Singapore to hang Van Nguyen? About how many people are executed in Singapore each year? What is Lasrys view about whether his client should receive different treatment to the other prisoners on death row? What is the indication that Howard is very angry about the process involved in announcing the date for the death penalty being carried out on Van? What do you think Lasry means when he says the following? This case is now about the next case I mean the consequences of this case for other cases, it may be that Vans death and the publicity surrounding it and the campaign weve run will help someone else. And if it does that, thatd be fantastic. And so its worth doing for that. How do we know that the lawyers are emotionally committed to this case and the people involved?

Arriving in Singapore What is your impression of Singapore in these opening shots? Two signs are featured in this footage. What assertions do they make about Singapore and citizens rights and responsibilities? How does the voiceover extract from Vans diary at this point bring him back to centre stage in the lm? What contrast is being implied between the settings in which Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong and Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, meet in the Colonial Era Palace and the situation in which Van nds himself? Final days What do the news reports, the on the streets of Melbourne scenes and what people are saying, tell us about how people feel about this issue? While we do not witness the final visits with Van, the depth of feeling of everyone involved is made clear through what we see and hear at this point in the lm. Explain how this intensity is conveyed by the lmmakers, particularly in the shooting of the scenes of family, friends and lawyers leaving Changi prison. The reports of Vans visitors and the excerpts from his diary suggest that since his conviction, Van has undergone a spiritual transformation completely rehabilitated, completely reformed completely focused on doing what is good (Julian McMahon). While these changes may make it even more difcult for people to accept his execution, should repentance and remorse affect our view of the rights and wrongs of capital punishment? After the full list of credits has appeared, these words from Van appear on the screen:

3. The process of constructing a documentary

What do we learn about this case from the opening statements in the audio as we watch the funeral scenes at the Cathedral before the lms title appears on screen? How are the filmmakers, and us, the viewers of this lm, able to know about the imprisoned Vans sense of what he did and why? What does the home video footage of both the Mount Waverley High School 1998 formal and Kellys twenty-rst birthday party establish about Van?

clemency for Van which the lawyers, McMahon, Lasry and Theseira, intend to include in the appeal are: youth; personal and family circumstances; rst offence; lack of professionalism; lack of intent to take the drugs into Singapore; and relatively low quantity by reference to other cases. Do you think any, or all of these matters, are relevant?

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Love with all your heart Never give up trying Never forsake And expect nothing in return. In ending with the words of Van, what nal impression do you think the lmmakers want us to take from the lm?

Activity 3
The wider issues raised by this lm for discussion and/or writing: In what way does the title of this film, Just Punishment, play on the different uses and meanings of the word just? One of the stated reasons for Singapore and other countries retaining the death penalty for drug trafcking is that it acts as a powerful deterrent. How

could the truth of such a claim be reliably tested? Should background information and submissions about the character and background of a convicted criminal be allowed to be used as part of the legal process in varying a sentence or in other appeal processes? The poll taken days before Van Nguyens execution in Singapore showed that forty-seven per cent of Australians supported this action. Do you think this result suggests: a respect for the right of other countries to impose their own legal penalties on convicted people who commit crimes within that country. a belief in the imposition of the death penalty for drug trafcking as a strong deterrent. a belief that many sentences are

commuted or inadequate. a sense that revenge is an appropriate response to the seriousness of some crimes. all of the above. While this film is, as the writers and directors acknowledge, not an easy lm to watch, and not an easy lm to make, what approach does it depend on to make its points and engage our hearts and minds? If this film had been made, of course in a different form, and shown on television in the months preceding Vans execution, do you think it may have changed the outcome? How do you think people in Singapore would respond to this lm, if it were ever to be shown there? Should Australia be supporting the application of the death penalty in relation to the convicted Bali bombers, while opposing it in relation to our own nationals convicted of crimes attracting the death penalty in Asian countries? As the sister or brother of someone whose life has been destroyed through an addiction to illegal drugs, outline what you believe is the best way to stop the destruction of lives through involvement with selling and/or using illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine (ice). Consider issues such as legalization, stricter penalties for sale and/or use, education programs, zero tolerance, more safe injecting rooms and better border and airport security and detection of importation of drugs. Do you think that watching Just Punishment is likely to have any effect on the seven per cent of people mentioned in the survey earlier who were undecided about the use of the death penalty in Van Nguyens case? Write a 200-word review of this documentary for a television guide, outlining

WHERE TO NOW fOR THOSE CHALLENGING THE DEATH PENALTY?

A recent report in The Age (29 April 2007),2 reported that Lex Lasry and Julian McMahon are part of the legal team now ghting to save the so called Bali Nine members, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran, from the death penalty imposed by the Indonesian Court for drug offences. However, this time the legal action is taking the form of a landmark constitutional challenge to the death penalty in Indonesia. In particular, it is a challenge to the constitutionality of the Indonesian drug legislation under which the men were convicted and sentenced. In 1999 the Indonesian constitution was amended to include an article stating that the right to life cannot be diminished under any circumstances. The Indonesian drugs laws then, and still in place, contain the death penalty. The argument is that the death penalties are in breach of the constitution as it now stands. (Lex Lasry, QC) The Australian barristers will not stand at the bar table in this court and speak. Indonesian lawyers will present the case because non-Indonesian lawyers have no standing in the Constitutional Court. The case is expected to run for some months.

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the films qualities and recommending it, or not, to viewers. The image on the DVD cover shows Vans mother by his cofn. Do you think this is a good image to use or are there others that you think better express your sense of the lms meaning?

now committed to seeing this through. Like all good stories the more we dug the more engrossed we became. It was meeting Vans friends that spurred our commitment to uncovering Vans story. At each new meeting their loyalty was overwhelming and it was through their descriptions of Van that a prole of an entertaining and generous personality behind a faade of cool grew. Even without meeting him, Vans charisma was magnetic. The films central question was formed through observing Vans friends and family. How would you cope if your brother, your son or your friend, at the prime of their youth, was sentenced to be executed? The more we lmed, the more we realized that this was the unseen effect of capital punishment. This wave of suffering illustrated, more than anything, the injustice of state-sanctioned killing. Kim, Vans mother, is at the heart of this, and her willingness to be involved in the lm was integral to our ability to tell Vans story in this way. When, in July 2004, Vans appeal verdict was adjourned to a date to be xed we realized that our initial six month timeline would quickly pass us by. Six months soon became two years and over this time Kim became as determined as we did for Vans story to be told. We have been criticized as exploitative, for observing Kim and her grief in the way the lm does. However, it is through Kim that the question of the justice of Vans punishment is crystallized. From the outset, Just Punishment was collaboration. It could not have been made in any other way. This collaboration included collaboration with Van himself. It is strange making a lm about someone who is alive, who in a way you feel you know but who you have never met. This was the case for the majority of our ex-

tensive production period. In Singapore, visiting rights for death row prisoners works on a quota system and visits are restricted to family and close personal friends. Van had endorsed the making of the lm from the beginning. At that stage no one knew the outcome of the case and there was no way Van could imagine how he would eventually face his death. We followed Vans journey through reports from his visitors and his ceaseless writing. In the days before his execution and upon his request, we were at last able to meet the person whom we had been talking about for two years. In the preceding weeks, Van had been elevated to almost saint-like status amongst some of his peers and, thanks to a remarkable campaign to try to save him, within some sections of the broader community. We were both nervous about meeting Van and intrigued by reports of the inner peace he claimed he felt in the days before being hanged. When asked about his fear, Van replied with a cheeky calm, I cant say that I wont be shitting myself on the day but right now I am at peace. Van admitted that he had no idea when he left Australia that he could be killed for what he was about to do. Of course this was stupid, but invincibility is something we all feel at twenty-one and both of us could remember the stupid things that we had done in the past. Just Punishment is not an easy lm to watch and it was not an easy lm to make. In some small way we hope it echoes the campaign purpose in which it was originally conceived and that it challenges audiences to rethink their position in relation not only to Vans execution but to the question of capital punishment in all cases. Kim Beamish & Shannon Owen, 20 October 2006

Directors Statement
When we were first approached about following Vans story we were skeptical. A young heroin trafcker was to be sentenced to death sometime in the next month and his lawyer thought a documentary could be a vital component in the push to save his life. While there was no doubt in both our minds that as a basic issue of human rights, this young guys life should be spared, we were immediately wary of the assumption that a documentary would be effective spin in a political campaign. We didnt want to airbrush the storys blemishes away, and we also knew there was no guarantee in the world of broadcasting that anything we made would go to air at a strategic campaign moment. Like most great documentary ideas that every second person wants to tell you about, there wasnt a pot of gold to get the project started. So it was with trepidation that we began to plot the feasibility of creating an unfunded masterpiece in the six months we were advised it would take for Van Nguyens sentence to be overturned or for his fate to be sealed. With no time to apply for funding through the normal documentary routes, we, like Vans lawyers, approached the lm pro bono. When the date of Vans sentencing was announced, we jumped on the phone to try and convince someone, anyone, to support us getting to Singapore. At the eleventh hour with a mixture of philanthropic and in-kind support we booked a ticket to Singapore for the rst leg of production. It seemed we were

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References Websites
http://www.theage.com.au/news/ tv--radio/inside-view-of-a-deathsentence/2006/11/28/1164476211822. html The story behind the making of this lm from the lmmakers perspective. Accessed 31 May 2007. http://freenet-homepage.de/dpinfo/ defenseattorneys.htm Quotes about the death penalty from a number of defence lawyers, including Julian McMahon. Accessed 11 June 2007. http://www.lowyinstitute.org/Publication. asp?pid=433 Complete text of paper about the need

for Australia to adopt a consistent approach to the capital punishment issue. Accessed 10 June 2007. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view. asp?article=3888 Text of piece by Mirko Bagaric, a lawyer and author headed Nguyen Tuong Van Australia Cannot Stand Idly by. He discusses the ways laws may be changed through a consistent international approach. Accessed 31 May 2007.

Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) A lm about the use of the death penalty in America. It represents the pain and personalities on both sides of the issue. The Ballad of Reading Gaol An 1898 poem by Oscar Wilde about imprisonment and capital punishment. A Hanging A 1931 essay by George Orwell. Marguerite OHara is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. Endnotes Sydney Morning Herald, 1 December 2005. 2 The Age, 29 April 2007.
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Films and other literature about this issue

It is difcult to nd lms or literature in favour of capital punishment. Here are some that have explored the issue over the past century. None are pro-capital punishment.

This study guide was produced by ATOM (ATOM) editor@atom.org.au For more information on SCREEN EDUCATION magazine or to download other free study guides visit www.metromagazine.com.au For hundreds of articles on Film as Text, Screen Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies, visit www.theeducationshop.com.au
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