Lawyer Param Curamasamy, who commented recently on de facto law minister Nazri Aziz's statement on a case regarding a young Malaysian on the Singapore death row, has denied he supports the death penalty.

NONE Param ( left ), a former UN independent expert on judges and lawyers, insisted that his stand on the death penalty was clear, that "a human rights violation anywhere must be seen as a violation everywhere".

"What I meant was he (Nazri) was echoing how governments generally react when other governments intervene or attempt to intervene in the internal affairs, particularly (in) legal processes," he told Malaysiakini .

"This is more so among Asean states. This policy of non-interference is now expressed in the recent Asean charter," he added.

He made this clarification in response to a group of human rights lawyers who took offence at his recent statement that Nazri, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was correct in opting not to interfere in 22-year-old Yong Vui Kong's case, in accordance with the Asean charter.

Lawyers for Liberty expressed shock yesterday at Param's statement, calling him "irresponsible" as his views may be used by governments to justify the death penalty.

Param defended his stand citing the example of Philippines, who recently asserted this position over calls for international investigation into the massacre in Maguindanao Province.

Malaysia also resented Australia's intervention in the case of two of their nationals, Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers, who were sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 1986, he added.

‘Appeal to the president instead'

Param also challenged Yong's Singaporean lawyer M Ravi's view that the case could be brought to the International Court of Justice on the grounds that Singapore President SR Nathan's rejection of his clemency appeal was " flawed and illegal".

Param suggested that appeals for Yong's case should be addressed again to Nathan, to persuade the president to exercise his prerogative of pardon to commute the death sentence.

NONE He suggested Ravi ( right ) to make, "a petition carefully drafted setting out why in the personal circumstances of Yong's case, the mandatorily imposed sentence on him would be seen as constituting arbitrary deprivation his life."

Observers are however sceptical of this avenue, as Singapore has very tough laws on trafficking, having hung 400 people for the crime between 1991 and 2004.

Param adds that the death penalty is not prohibited under the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Malaysia has yet to ratify. However, it is still considered "cruel, harsh and degrading", he added

He maintains that he is strongly against the death penalty, saying that public opinion should be mobilised to call for its abolition.

The prominent lawyer has on three past occasions publicly protested three death sentence cases, in 1977, 1982 and 1985, because of irregularities in the case.

Amongst them was the case of a 14-year-old schoolboy sentenced to death by the Penang High Court.