Singapore has executed six men convicted of drug offences in October, despite pleas from Amnesty International and Malaysia, which recently pledged to abolish the death penalty altogether.
Prabu N Pathmanathan, a 31-year-old from Malaysian who had been on death row since 2014, was hanged at Changi prison on Friday morning.
A second man, reported to be Singaporean Irwan bin Ali, was executed alongside Mr Pathmanathan, following the "secret" hanging of Selamat bin Paki, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
They were among six men executed in October, all on drug offences.
N Surendran, the lawyer for Mr Pathmanathan's family, told the ABC that Singapore authorities had unlawfully refused to consider a petition for clemency.
According to local media, the office of Singapore President Halimah Yacob had delivered a letter to Prabu's family in response to their petition, saying it was "unable to accede to [their] request".
Mr Surendran said his client "felt he had become a new man after the experience of being in prison" and had become "very spiritual".
"He wanted to live. He wanted to have another chance," he said.
Mr Surendran added that Singapore appeared to be shortening the notice given to prisoners "so they can execute with the minimum of fuss".
"It's extremely unfair and prejudicial to the prisoner and his family to give him practically less than a week notice of execution," he said.
Calls to abolish the death penalty
The case has fuelled a fresh push against the wealthy state's use of the death penalty.
Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International's Singapore Researcher, said the death penalty contravened international law.
"It is time for Singapore to re-establish its moratorium on the death penalty and follow the Government of Malaysia's example, who have suspended all executions and announced plans to abolish the use of this cruel punishment for all crimes," she said.
"This cruel and irreversible punishment has no place in any society, as more than two-thirds of the world's countries have come to recognise."
Malaysia surprised many by abolishing the death penalty, making the announcement on October 10 — the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
It is expected to come into effect by the end of the year.
Drug offences accounted for the largest number of executions in Malaysia, which previously mandated capital punishment for crimes ranging from murder and kidnapping to drug offences and treason.
Amnesty International reported in March that 799 people on death row were convicted of drug trafficking, including 416 foreign nationals.
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs, which runs both the Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau and the Singapore Prison Service, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Source: abc.net.au, October 27, 2018
Malaysian drug courier dies on Singapore gallows, family's lawyer confirms
Malaysian Prabu Pathmanathan, 31, was executed at dawn in Singapore's Changi Prison today, lawyer N. Surendran said in a statement.
Surendran who represents Prabu's family also confirmed that they have collected his body for cremation later today, but called the hanging by Singapore a lawless act that disregarded the due process.
"The execution was an unlawful, and brutal act, carried out in breach of due process and in defiance of the appeals made by neighbouring Malaysia," he said.
Prabu was convicted of smuggling 227.82 grams of diamorphine from Malaysia into Singapore in 2014.
Surendran who is also adviser for civil group Lawyers for Liberty claimed the Singapore authorities gave less than a week's notice on Prabu’s execution to his family even as they and the Malaysian government sought to commute his death sentence.
"It is a flagrant breach of due process for the Singapore President to reject the family's clemency petition without even considering it. It was thus a lawless act.
"Prabu's parents and siblings are devastated by the execution of their son and brother," the lawyer said.
Surendran conveyed the family's gratitude to the Malaysian government and other anti-death penalty advocates in the country and outside for their support.
Groups like Lawyers for Liberty, Amnesty International, We Believe in Second Chances and Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign were among those who voiced their opposition to Prabu's hanging.
Malaysia has equally strict laws as Singapore with regards to drug trafficking but the Pakatan Harapan government recently announced that it would abolish the mandatory death penalty as part of its promised legal reforms after taking power in the May elections.
De facto law minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong told reporters Wednesday that he would issue a letter to the Singapore government asking that Prabu be given a 2nd chance.
Source: malaymail.com, October 26, 2018
⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
 |  |
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde