Vui Kong gets extension for clemency appeal

PETALING JAYA: The clemency appeal for convicted Malaysian drug mule Yong Vui Kong, who is slated to be hanged in Singapore, has been extended.

Originally scheduled for tomorrow, the hearing has been postponed to a later date.

Save Vui Kong Campaign (SKVC) coordinator Ngeow Chow Ying told FMT that Changi prison authorities had given a letter to Vui Kong's Singaporean legal counsel M Ravi regarding this.

"The (Singapore) High Court in their decision has extended the deadline until Vui Kong's appeal is disposed of in the Court of Appeal," she added.

The appeal is against a court ruling two weeks ago that the power to grant pardons rests with the Cabinet, and not the president, under the Constitution.

Yong, 22, was slapped with the death penalty for smuggling 47 grams of heroin into Singapore. Caught in 2007, he was 18 at the time, making him eligible for capital punishment.

Yesterday, Yong's six siblings, who were split up after their parents divorced, reunited outside the gates of Singapore's presidential palace hoping to save their brother's life.

The family came with a petition bearing more than 100,000 signatures asking President SR Nathan to pardon Yong.

Also present was Yong's 58-year-old father, who knelt at the palace's entrance for several minutes.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday, August 25, 2010

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