Van...
She needs a lawyer who can help her for free.
- How much heroin did he have? - About half a kilo.
I've really gotta pass on this, don't I?
This is a capital punishment case.
There's a reason I'm trying to get the best QC in the country to help.
Van, my name's Julian McMahon,
this is Lex Lasry - we're your legal counsel.
- Who the fuck are you? - I'm your brother's lawyer.
He did it for himself. He didn't have to, no-one told him to.
So, what you're saying is we can't risk a relationship
worth billions of dollars in trade
to save the life of a drug trafficker?
My decision is that I find you guilty.
You want me to tell you how many condemned
have gotten off death row in the past 10 years?
My name's Kelly. I was a school friend of Van's.
Is there any way I can help him?
I've been going through these trial transcripts
and I think I've found an angle.
They broke the chain of evidence.
His appeal is hereby dismissed.
No, we are not gonna fuckin' let him die.
This is it.
This is the spot.
This is it.
- Warden? - For your clemency appeal.
You need to write a letter.
Taking stock of the life I have lived
only makes room for disappointment.
So many things I should have done and should not have.
Now I have this chance...
...an opportunity to make a difference...
...to prevail.
Yes, I'm sure.
You're positive it was a light?
Certain people in intense moments of their life...
...they experience a light and it's a spiritual...
What? Like God? You think you saw God?
I don't know.
But it's a good thing, right?
Yep. Of course.
- Of course it's a good thing, yeah. - I think so, too.
Because it means that maybe I'm ready.
Hang on, what do you mean you're ready?
You know.
Um...let's just leave the light experience aside
and let's just concentrate on the here and now.
You need to write a letter as part of your clemency petition,
and you need to address it to their president...
Julian...
...to express how you are now, how you've changed,
how you've been rehabilitated.
- Can't you see that I'm ready? - No, you're not fuckin' ready!
Look at you. You're just a boy, mate.
You are just a boy.
You know, I've been here two years
and he's never stepped through that door.
Please...
...let me go.
So, um...so what do we need for the clemency petition?
We need to write a brilliant legal argument
and pepper it with letters of support from Kim, Kelly...
What about Khoa?
Do you think we can get something from Khoa?
Alright, I'm off to see Kim.
Are you serious?
Well, I've got less than a month to get this petition.
We just got off the plane. We've gotta think seriously about this.
- We get one shot. - Yeah, I know.
Julian! Wait.
You know they've asked us to present this petition to the president.
- Yeah. Loong. - No, no, no, he's the prime minister.
The president is S.R. Nathan.
Oh, shit. Huh.
OK, so, if we don't know his name,
the chances are he's not very influential.
What, is he just a figurehead?
Why are they getting us to send the petition to him?
Sufficient to say, the chances of it succeeding are very slim.
Oh, shit.
We have to find a way to convince parliament to fight for us.
That's where the battle will really be.
Yeah, how long is that gonna take?
By the time they look into it, the chances are our boy could be dead.
A slim chance - it's better than none.
Kim!
Kim.
Hey.
- Hey, hey, put that down! - What... are you a fucking cop?!
Khoa?
- You're that lawyer. - What are you doing with that?
It's mine. I lent it to him and I want it back.
What, and you can't use the front door?
- I lost my keys. - Well, what about asking your mother?
I don't wanna see her.
How's Van holding up?
I think he's partially given up.
On you?
No, no, no, not me. Um...on life.
Well, you can hardly blame him, I suppose.
He keeps seeing this light and talking as though it's the end.
I know it may be hard to accept, but he's probably preparing himself.
Yeah, I don't want him to prepare himself.
I need him to keep both feet on the ground at all costs.
But, Jules, if he's found some peace in religion,
that can't be a bad thing.
And you did encourage him.
Well, yeah, so I just gave him something to read.
So what do I do now? Do I just give up, let him go?
Well...I don't think you can delude him about his chances.
You had a watertight appeal there and it was thrown out of court.
I think he needs your support, Jules, not false hopes.
He's mature enough to reconcile his plight.
No.
No, how can he be?
He's...he's just a kid. He's got no idea what's coming to him.
Come here.
Put me down!
Don't you dare!
What...are you doing?!
Boring. Boring.
Super boring. Why can't you have anything fun to do?
Darling, don't you have any homework to do?
Schapelle. Cool.
"Schapelle. Cool."
She's beautiful, isn't she?
I feel sorry for her.
How much do you know about Schapelle?
Lots. Our teacher talks about her.
Darling, hold up the cover of that magazine.
Will you get to meet her?
Julian.
Hi, Kelly. Hi, Kim. Just a minute.
Hey, honey, can you wait outside?
I'll take you to school in a minute, OK? Daddy needs to talk.
Again?!
And just leave the magazine on the corner there.
Come on, Dad.
Come on, have a biscuit. They're in the kitchen.
Hi, Kelly, Kim.
Here are our letters.
Feels weird writing to the president of Singapore.
Oh, no, that's great. Thanks. Well done.
Sorry, Julian. I tried writing but not very good.
No, no, no, it's OK. I'm sure it's fine, Kim.
I cross out some words. Be OK?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine. That's fine, thank you.
We'll leave you to it. We know you're busy.
OK. Hey, thanks for bringing these in. Kim, you stay strong, OK?
Yeah. Thank you, Julian.
- Kim. Kelly. - Hi, Lex.
- There you go. - Mmm.
Hey, check this out.
Oh, yeah, she's a celebrity.
If we want politicians to help save our boy,
we've gotta influence public opinion.
Get Van on the cover of every magazine in the country.
You know, even little Angie wants to save Schapelle.
If we can get the public to back Van's plight
then the politicians will follow.
Get the whole nation behind us.
Gotta start a campaign.
There is one big difference. Schapelle is female and white.
And sitting in a sideshow carnival with access to 60 Min u te s,
and they to her.
While Van is locked up
in the tightest steel cage built by mankind.
OK, but what if we don't need access to him?
Then how do you propose to get his face out there?
We don't.
We've got two women who have just been in here
who could tell us more about Van's plight than even he could.
'Reach Out' - it's a great title for your campaign.
So, what - people trace their hand and send it in with a message?
Yeah, that's the idea. Bronnie and I came up with it together.
- It's like a petition with feeling. - I love it.
How are you feeling, Kim?
I scared to talk.
No, you'll be great.
Too many Australian people.
Kim, you're his voice. He needs you, OK?
- Come on. - Oh, guys, wait!
Who's this?
She was Van's...
Van's girlfriend a long time ago.
- I'm Rachel. - OK.
Come on.
Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming.
I'd like to introduce you to Kim Nguyen, Van Nguyen's mother.
And she'd like to speak to you about her son.
Hello. Hello.
My name is Kimoya.
I am the mother of Van.
Everybody please help...
From the bottom of my heart... I have to say...
...please help my family.
My son is young boy.
He sorry in jail.
Very sorry.
He has learned a lot.
I feel my son is scared about what is going to happen to him,
and it hurt my heart.
Every time I go to see Van
I tell him...Mummy love him very much.
My family is very close.
He in my heart.
If something happen to my son my heart will be sobbing.
Fuckin' hell, Mum.
In life we learn everyone makes mistakes.
Everyone deserves a second chance.
This is a picture that Van has traced of his very own hand,
reaching out for help.
By tracing your hand on a coloured piece of paper,
you'll be asking the president of Singapore to spare Van's life.
Inside your helping hand write a message of support to Van.
Your hand will reach out and carry hope to the president.
Julian, Bronnie, Lex, look.
In less than five minutes.
The Opposition's appealing directly for mercy.
It's incumbent upon us
to try every avenue to seek to persuade our friends
in the Singaporean Government to reconsider this matter.
But without new hard evidence, the Prime Minister's not optimistic.
If there is anything new,
then we will put that before the authorities,
but if there's nothing new I don't want to raise false expectations.
Van Nguyen's Australian...
He's concerned about public opinion.
Wait till our campaign hits top gear.
The last Australians executed abroad were in Malaysia -
Michael McAuliffe 12 years ago,
and, in the 1980s, Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers -
all for drug trafficking.
Karen Middleton, World News Australia.
- Hello? - Hello, Julian.
How come I see John Howard say he do no more?
Well, it's early days, Kim. He's moving cautiously.
- How about Queen? - Sorry?
How about Queen?
Maybe she want to help me.
Well, we all want to help you, Kim. Everyone's doing what they can.
But I don't think the Queen's gonna listen to us.
Maybe she listen to me.
The Queen is a mother.
Me, I am mother, too.
No, Kim...Kim, I think you're right. Let's do it.
Kim, why did you decide to write to the Queen to ask for help?
She has a son. She understand.
She is a mother.
The Queen can't intervene without approval from the British Parliament.
Do you seriously believe the British Parliament will intervene
to save Van Nguyen's life?
Well, we have letters from two popes - John Paul and Benedict -
we have a petition signed by 400 parliamentarians...
Federal and state parliaments,
including New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland,
have all passed motions supporting Van's clemency.
And our public campaign has captured the attention
and the hearts of people all over Australia and throughout the world.
Look, we're getting hundreds of these sent to us every day.
This is one from Edwina, in Canada.
Now, we have a young kid sitting on death row -
a reformed kid, a sorry kid.
Why shouldn't their parliament intervene?
But by saving Nguyen's life, aren't you condoning drugs?
Aren't you saying that it's alright to bring heroin into our country?
No, we're not condoning anything.
By supporting our campaign you're not condoning drugs,
you're supporting humanity.
People shouldn't be killing people, full stop.
Then what do you say to the 47% of Australians who actually believe,
well, Van deserves what he gets?
- 47%? - Today's poll- 47%.
Well, then I'd say that I'm ashamed of half our population.
Look, print this.
This is a letter that Van wrote to the prime minister of Singapore
accepting responsibility for his wrongdoing and expressing regret.
After having read that, if you still want to kill the boy,
well, then, God help you.
- Excuse us. - Any news of how Van is...
Julian, Lex, when do you expect to hear
from the president of Singapore?
What about his brother? Has he been to see Van?
Oh, my God.
Hey, Polar Bear.
Rabbit.
So, what have you been up to?
Are you dating anyone?
Are you single? Are you...taken?
- Married? - Why?
It's none of your business.
See, 'cause if you were single,
I could introduce you to some of the death-row boys.
- They're good-looking guys.
I can't see them, but they sound like they're good-looking guys.
I, uh...don't go for good-looking guys.
Can you believe this?
Like, how many years have passed
and it feels like not a single day's gone by.
No.
I can't even remember - when was the last time we saw each other?
Thanks for bringing that up.
- I didn't meant to hurt you. - Well, you did.
Broke my heart when you dumped me.
Why?
Why did you end it?
I would have hurt you so much more if we'd stayed together.
Look at what I've gotten myself into.
Maybe you wouldn't be here if you'd just given us a chance.
Ha! Is that what you've come here for?
To laugh at me, to say we should have stayed together?
- No. - Then what?
I'm here to say I still fucking love you.
And that I think about you.
And that you can't give up on your life because people like me...
Rachel...Rachel...
...there's no people like you.
There's just you.
Alright. Just me.
But we'll be hurting.
I'll be hurting.
Wish we could start all over again.
Me too.
Julian McMahon.
Julian, it's Joseph from Singapore.
Hang on, Joseph. I've got Lex here. I'll put you on speaker.
Check your fax.
The clemency decision is coming through right now.
"...to inform you that the president,
"after due consideration of the petition
"and on the advice of the Cabinet...
"has decided that the death sentence...should stand."
One paragraph from the president's secretary.
No reasoning, no justification
for three years of work and a man's life.
What if we took the case to the International Court of Justice?
But that would be impossible
without the Singapore Government's approval.
There's remote chance of getting that.
What if we can convince them of the merits of deferring?
Can you at least give that a shot?
Well, let me look into it.
Minister, time is of the essence. We may only have a few weeks.
To be quite frank with you, there's only one person at this stage
who could add influence over Van's plight.
- The prime minister. - Yes.
It just so happens we're meeting with the Singapore PM
at the APEC conference in a week's time.
Well, Minister, surely we can raise our issue in that climate?
Lex, I can't guarantee anything,
but I can certainly ask him.
Well, is there anything we can do to help convince him, Minister?
What's the boy's mother up to later this week?
I'm unsure. Why?
I think there's somebody she should meet.
The prime minister will see you now, Mrs Nguyen.
- Good luck. - Thank you, Julian.
I sorry. I very sorry.
Please, you can help my son.
You help my son...please.
He so sorry.
Any finished ones?
Awesome. Thank you. Thank you.
Wow, that one looks really good.
Kim...Kim, look at this one.
Hmm.
Kim, telephone for you.
- It's Julian. - Thank you.
Hello, Julian.
OK, Kim, any time now Howard's about to address the media. Keep watching.
...on death row is dominating
talks between Prime Minister Howard
and his Singaporean counterpart at the APEC summit here in South Korea.
Miss Kim Nguyen, registered post.
Wait a minute.
...try to persuade Singapore's prime minister
to spare the life of the 25-year-old.
The Melbourne man's previously clean record, his cooperation
and acknowledgement of wrongdoing
out of concern for the position of his brother
are understood to be the arguments being mounted
to convince Singapore not to hang Van Nguyen.
- Talks between the pair... - Singapore. Bronnie.
Singapore.
What it say?
"Dear Madame,
"This is to inform you that the death sentence
"passed on Nguyen Tuong Van will be carried out on 2 December."
Death?
Prime Minister, are there other avenues left to pursue?
No, there is nothing else. We have done everything we can.
No...Van.
- No. - Sorry.
No, Van.
A letter's been sent from the Singapore Government
to Van Nguyen's mother, confirming he will be executed on December 2.
John Howard wasn't advised of the date...
6...7...8...9...
10, 11, 12...
15 fuckin' days.
15.
Many transitions have taken place since I have been here,
the culmination of which has changed me on a fundamental level.
I'm learning to give and share all that is mine.
To be more understanding and patient.
To be more considerate and accepting.
To be more compassionate, generous and gracious.
I have learnt to love my neighbour.
What are we gonna do with all these now?
We'll get it to their president, like we planned.
Kell...
...it's over.
Where's Mum?
Khoa?
Where's Mum?
Me.
Me, are you there?
Chiam Fong.
Who the fuck are you?
You left this in the kitchen.
- That's the one he sent Kelly. - Yeah, I know.
"Just finished a letter to Julian, finally.
"Don't tell him but I've developed a profound love and respect for him."
He loves you.
You know it's over.
There's nothing more you could have done.
I love you for what you've done.
No. I love you for what you've done.
I'm all yours now.
No, you're not.
He needs you.
You need to go and see him, honey.
Even if...
Yeah, the last time.
Khoa, do you feel responsible
for your brother's predicament?
Kim...Kim, do you have a message for viewers?
Khoa, do you think the Australian Government
has given you enough support?
Sir.
You're Chiam Fong?
Julian McMahon, lawyer for 856.
Yes, for Van.
So, what can I do for you?
Can you tell me...
...who asked you to issue this?
- I have orders. - From who?
- He broke our laws. - He's a kid.
He's a kid who made a mistake and he deserves a second chance.
What's killing him going to change?
Nothing. It will change absolutely nothing.
I hope you enjoy your stay in our country.
Stop.
Give him a contact visit with his family.
Contact visit? Impossible. We never allow it.
At least allow him to hug his mother before you kill him.
Go home, Julian. Go home.
Look after your wife, your child.
I will look after my family. You look after that boy.
Contact visit or I'll make sure my entire country is on your back.
Hey, bro.
It's been a long time.
Three years.
Yeah.
So, h...
...how you been?
You know.
Well, Mum tells me you've been living on instant noodles.
Four packs a day.
Yeah.
You always used to make them better than me.
I, uh...put too much water in.
You drown the shit.
I don't get noodles in here.
I've been...I've been learning to pray in here.
And I've been praying a lot.
- For you. - Van, shut the fuck up!
I fuckin' miss you, man.
The past three years...
...I fuckin'...
...I fuckin' miss you.
Me too.
It's unlike you to be this quiet.
Mate, I, uh...I think I might have run out of words.
I'm sorry it couldn't have ended on a happier note.
YOU'RE sorry.
Yeah.
You remember the light that I told you about?
Yes, I do. Yes.
I finally got it.
What it means.
Do you remember when you used to give me sandwiches at school?
Who would have thought on that day...
...you and me...
...who would have thought we'd become brother and sister?
You know, it feels like yesterday you guys came in here to see me.
It does, mate.
I remember it very clearly.
Thank you, Joseph...
...for your courage
and for coming and seeing me every week.
I only live down the road.
I'm happy. I want you to be, too.
No matter where you go,
what you do...
...who you end up with.
Just remember I just want you to be happy.
It's going to be hard, Van.
I won't forget what you've done, Lex.
Ever.
I won't forget you, Van.
Ever.
Jie Jie, your love for me...
Stop it.
...your love for me was what kept me going.
You promised you wouldn't make me cry.
Just think of this...
...me...
...as another chapter in your life.
And it's telling me...
...I'm gonna be alright, Julian.
I'll be alright.
I'm, er...
Mate, I'm very proud of you.
You little punk.
So...
...now that we've all shared a lot of tears...
...I thought it would be nice to have a bit of a laugh.
In my last visit with my little brother, we both made promises.
He promised me something and in return I promised him three things.
Now, the first...the first is that before I go...
...I'm gonna sing everyone my favourite song.
Now, feel free to laugh, whatever.
Yeah, here goes.
♪ Send someone to love me
♪ I need to rest in arms
♪ And keep me safe from harm
♪ And pourin' rain
♪ Give me endless summer
♪ 'Cause, Lord, I fear the cold
♪ Feel I'm getting old
♪ Before my time
♪ As my soul
♪ Heals the shame
♪ I will grow
♪ Through this pain
♪ Lord, I'm doin'
♪ All I can
♪ To be a better man
♪ Go easy on my conscience
♪ 'Cause it's not my fault
♪ I know I've been taught
♪ To take the blame
♪ And rest assured, my angels
♪ Will catch my tears
♪ To walk me out of here
♪ 'Cause I'm in pain
♪ As my soul heals the shame
♪ I will grow through this pain
♪ Lord, I'm doing
♪ All I can
♪ To be a better man. ♪
This is it.
This is the spot.
Me!
Khoa!
I'm so sorry.
♪ Amazing Grace
♪ How sweet the sound... ♪
My last visit with my little brother,
I promised him three things.
The first was that I would sing everyone my favourite song
before I leave.
The second was that I'd walk to the gallows with my head held high.
And the last...
...the last was that I'd dance my favourite dance...
...on my way to the gallows.
♪ Through many dangers
♪ Toils and snares
♪ I have already come
♪ 'Tis Grace that brought me
♪ Safe thus far
♪ And Grace will lead me home
♪ Was blind
♪ But now I see. ♪
Subtitles SBS Australia 2013