NGUYEN Tuong Van's twin, Khoa, wants to visit him on death row in Singapore to say goodbye.
It will be the first time the 25-year-old brothers have met since Nguyen was arrested in 2002 with 396 grams of heroin he was carrying for a Sydney syndicate to help pay Khoa's debts.
It is believed that Khoa will seek permission to meet his twin in the maximum-security Changi prison in the days before the Melbourne salesman's dawn execution on December 2.
He wants to join his mother, Kim Nguyen, a close circle of friends, defence lawyers Lex Lasry, QC, and Julian McMahon and others permitted to visit by prison authorities.
No one will be allowed to see Nguyen on the morning of his execution. His body will be released to his mother.
A thick glass panel will prevent the brothers from touching, but Khoa will follow his brother's traditional greeting by holding a hand to the glass  as do all his visitors.
Khoa has led a troubled life since his teenage years and lives interstate. He is said to be in an extremely fragile state, feeling the pain of his brother's fate.
Khoa received a suspended prison sentence in the Victorian County Court in June last year on charges that involved an attack in which a man was seriously injured at a railway station.
His brother, who has no criminal record in Australia, is widely regarded as popular, a hard worker and a devoted son.
Mrs Nguyen was told on Thursday by registered mail from the Singapore prisons service of the execution date.
Nguyen was found guilty in March last year of importing the heroin into Singapore, although he had never left the transit area of Changi international airport, where he was waiting for a flight to Melbourne.
He was sentenced to death under Singapore law that determines a mandatory death sen- tence for anyone guilty of possessing more than 15 grams of heroin.
Singapore President S. R. Nathan rejected Nguyen's clemency appeal four weeks ago.
His Government has steadfastly refused requests to reconsider its decision from Australian politicians, religious groups, Amnesty International and thousands among the public.
Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls yesterday pleaded with the Singapore Government to save "our son, our brother, our friend".
In an emotional address to open a display of outlines of hands in a Reach Out campaign aimed at winning clemency for Nguyen, Mr Hulls said: "With all humility, I appeal to the special spirit of friendship that exists between Victoria and Singapore and I plead with the Singapore Government to reject this (death) penalty, one which is utterly disproportionate to his offence," he said.
Supporters of convicted Australian drug trafficker, Van Nguyen, gathered outside the State Library in Melbourne yesterday to display thousands of messages of opposition to his death sentence. 

Callers to talkback radio in Melbourne were overwhelmingly against the death penalty of Nguyen, who immediately admitted his guilt and has cooperated with authorities since being caught smuggling heroin into Singapore. Many called for a boycott of Singaporean products.

25-year-old Nguyen was arrested at Changi Airport in 2002 for carrying heroin and sentenced to death in March. Nguyen claims he carried the 396 grams of heroin strapped to his body in an attempt to pay off his brother Khoa's $30,000 legal debts.

The Singapore government have announced they will execute Nguyen at dawn on December 2nd. Singapore President S. R. Nathan rejected Nguyen's clemency four weeks ago. The Melbourne salesman was sentenced to death under Singapore law which determines a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of possessing 15 grams of heroin or more.

Nguyen's mother was informed on Thursday by registered mail from the Singapore prisons service of the execution date. The letter stated that she should start making funeral arrangements. She will get to see her son in the three days leading up to the execution.

Despite repeated pleas for clemency from many thousands of supporters; religious groups; human rights organisations; the Pope; and the Australian Government - including Prime Minister, John Howard - Singapore officials have said Nguyen's execution is irreversible.

Mr Howard had argued that Nguyen should be spared, citing mitigating circumstances in his case which pointed to the fact that he was not a serial drug trafficker but had merely been trying to pay off his brother's debts.

The Victorian Attorney-General, Rob Hulls, says the Singaporean Government has shown no compassion whatsoever in its treatment of Van Nguyen and his family.

"What's happening is brutal, is inappropriate. I, and the Victorian Government, vehemently oppose the death penalty in any circumstances", he told ABC Radio. "This is a young kid who has assisted the police all the way... In any other country, he would get a discount in relation to the penalty. But because there is a mandatory death penalty for drug offences in Singapore, this young man may well be executed. It is just grossly inappropriate."

"Singapore maintains that capital punishment is a criminal justice issue; it is the sovereign right of every country to decide whether or not to include capital punishment within its criminal justice system," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. 

Singapore argues that there was no international consensus that capital punishment should be abolished. At the most recent meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, 66 countries dissociated themselves from a resolution calling for the abolition of capital punishment. 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong affirmed Singapore's position by saying that it has to "stand firm on drugs to protect its citizens from the scourge and to ensure the country does not become a conduit for the trafficking of illicit drugs."

In reply to a letter appealing for clemency from his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said: "Mr Nguyen imported almost 400gm of pure heroin which would have supplied more than 26,000 doses to drug addicts."

No one will be permitted to see Nguyen on the morning of his execution. His body will be released to his mother.