Singapore | Malaysian prisoner hugs Quran to chest in final 'photo shoot' ahead of execution

The picture has been shared on social media in a tearful tribute penned by his niece.

A picture of a Malaysian death row prisoner clutching a copy of the Quran before his execution yesterday has been shared by his niece in a tearful farewell which she posted on Facebook.

The picture shows Rahmat Karimon holding a Quran at his chest in what is believed to be part of his final photo shoot at Changi Prison, a bizarre practice carried out by prison authorities in the run-up to execution day.

"You will be missed, Abang Rahmat. We all love you. Your place is paradise, insha Allah.

"May you find peace there. We love you, Abang," said Nur Hidayu, who also shared past family pictures showing a younger Rahmat.

Rahmat was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint in 2015 as he was travelling back to Malaysia with his wife and three children, after delivering a green bag to a person in Singapore.

According to court documents, Rahmat had been instructed by his employer, an illegal moneylender called “Kanna Gila”, to deliver a bag containing drugs and to collect S$8,000.

The court was also told that Rahmat was promised an interest-free loan of RM30,000 by Kanna if he brought "some medicine" to a person named Zainal and collected S$8,000 from another person named Bai.

The court dismissed Rahmat's defence that he had no knowledge of the bag's contents, and sentenced him to death.

"Since he delivered the drugs to Zainal, there is no doubt that he was trafficking," the Court of Appeal said in dismissing his appeal in 2021.

It also described Rahmat's argument that he had no knowledge about the bag's contents as "illogical" and "incredible".

Rahmat's case has been cited as an example by critics of Singapore's draconian drug laws, who say that its mandatory death sentence has only targeted mules hired by drug kingpins who in turn largely escape the authorities.

Rahmat was the sole Malaysian plaintiff in a historic suit by 17 ethnic Malay prisoners, accusing the Singapore government of racial bias in their prosecutions. The suit was thrown out by a Singapore court last year, and their lawyers slapped with heavy penalties for "abusing the process".

Rahmat's execution yesterday, alongside another Singaporean prisoner, was carried out despite growing criticism from rights groups who urge the city-state to impose a moratorium on its capital punishment and review outdated drug laws.

Joining the chorus of condemnation yesterday was the United Nations' Human Rights Office, which said it "deplored" the hangings as well as another double execution scheduled on Friday.

"We also call on the government of Singapore to end the use of mandatory death sentences for drug offences, commute all death sentences to a sentence of imprisonment and immediately put in place a moratorium on all executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty," it said.

The PAP-led regime has dismissed such concerns despite growing opposition that has seen rare protests by Singaporeans against the death penalty in recent years.

Source: malaysianow.com, Staff, August 3, 2022

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