FEATURED POST

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Urgent action: Singapore. Yong Vui Kong, a young Malaysian, at imminent risk of execution

Published
Yong Vui Kong
Yong Vui Kong, a 23-year-old Malaysian man, has lost his final judicial appeal against a mandatory death sentence. He is now at imminent risk of execution. Appeals are urgently needed to pressure Singapore’s President to spare his life.

On 4 April 2011, the Singapore Court of Appeal, Singapore’s highest court, dismissed Yong Vui Kong’s appeal. He was sentenced to death in January 2009 for trafficking 47 grams of heroin, a crime committed when he was 19 years old.

Yong Vui Kong is now at imminent risk of execution unless Singapore President S.R. Nathan grants clemency, a request that the President had previously rejected. The case has also generated widespread concern in Yong Vui Kong’s native Malaysia.

Amnesty International has called on Malaysian officials to intensify their diplomatic efforts to ask Singapore for clemency. In July 2010, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman announced, “I will be writing to the government of Singapore to plead for his clemency.” At the time, Malaysian legislators also called for clemency.

Under Singapore's drug laws, a defendant is automatically presumed guilty of drug trafficking in cases where possession of heroin exceeds two grams. This provision violates the defendant’s right to be presumed innocent of a crime until proven guilty.

Singaporean law makes the death penalty mandatory for trafficking more than 30 grams of heroin. In 2007, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston said, “Singapore’s decision to make the death penalty mandatory keeps judges from considering all of the factors relevant to determining whether a death sentence would be permissible in a capital case.“

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English or your own language:
 Urging Singapore’s President to reconsider Yong Vui Kong's clemency petition and commute his death sentence, which was mandatorily imposed;
 Urging Malaysian Foreign Minister to press Singaporean President Nathan to reconsider Yong Vui Kong's clemency petition and commute his death sentence;
 Reminding Malaysia Foreign Minister’s of his commitment to call for clemency for Yong Vui Kong, a Malaysian who is also a native of his home state of Sabah.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 16 MAY 2011 TO:
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the fifth update of UA 296/09. Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA36/001/2011/en

Foreign Minister of Malaysia:
His Excellency Datuk Seri Anifah Amam
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Wisma Putra
NO 1 Jalan Wisam Putra, Precinct 2
62602 Putrajuya, Malaysia
Fax: +60 3 8889 1717
Salutation: Your Excellency

President of Singapore:
His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Orchard Road
Istana
Singapore 0922
Fax: +65 6735 3135
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Editor-in-Chief
The Daily Express
Sabah Publishing House Sdn. Bhd.
P.O. Box 10139
88801 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Fax: +60-6-088-238611

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Ambassade de la République de Singapour
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 198
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Fax 02.660.86.85

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The mandatory imposition of the death penalty with no consideration of the defendant’s personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence has been recognized by the UN Human Rights Committee to constitute an arbitrary deprivation of life.

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston said in 2007 that the fact that Singapore law makes the death penalty mandatory for drug trafficking was inconsistent with international human rights standards. “Singapore’s decision to make the death penalty mandatory keeps judges from considering all of the factors relevant to determining whether a death sentence would be permissible in a capital case. He also said that, “It is a fundamental human right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

In resolution 2005/59, adopted on 20 April 2005, the UN Commission on Human Rights urged all states that still maintain the death penalty "to ensure… that the death penalty is not imposed… as a mandatory sentence".

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Please click here to sign an online petition urging Singapore's President to commute Yong Vui Kong's death sentence to a prison sentence.


PLEASE SHARE WIDELY.

Source: AI, April 5, 2011
_________________________
Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.
Read more

Malaysia urged to extend moratorium on executions until full abolition of death penalty

Published
Image
PETALING JAYA: Amnesty International Malaysia has commended Malaysia for the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and for imposing a moratorium on the execution of the death sentence, which has led to an overall decrease in the use of the death penalty by the courts. However, the rights group urged the government to extend the moratorium on executions until the death penalty is fully abolished.
Read more

Could Moscow attack suspects face execution in Belarus?

Published
Image
After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.
Read more

Iran | 9 prisoners executed in a single day

Published
Image
9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.  
Read more

Bill Moves Forward to Prevent Use of Nitrogen Gas Asphyxiation in Louisiana Executions

Published
Image
There’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430. When Louisiana legislators approved the use of nitrogen gas asphyxiation as an execution method during a second special legislative session in February, the move attracted national attention; not the least because it has only been used in the U.S. once. That’s when Alabama executed convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith on January 25th of this year. Now there’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430.
Read more

Punjab | Woman sentenced to death for kidnapping, burying toddler alive

Published
Image
Neelam sentenced to death for burying toddler alive after kidnapping her, in a rare and heinous crime. The court found her guilty of murder and destruction of evidence, causing outrage in society. LUDHIANA: Over two years after the brutal murder of a toddler, the woman who killed her was sentenced to death by a local court. The convict had buried her neighbour’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter alive. 
Read more