Another M’sian set for execution in S’pore, LFL urges notice revocation
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has called on the Singapore government to immediately revoke an execution notice against another Malaysian inmate in the city-state.
Datchinamurthy Kataiah is scheduled to be executed on April 29 and his family residing in Johor received word of the execution via a letter dated April 22 from the Singapore Prison Service, according to LFL adviser N Surendran.
Surendran said that LFL is "appalled" by the decision to execute...
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has called on the Singapore government to immediately revoke an execution notice against another Malaysian inmate in the city-state.
Datchinamurthy Kataiah is scheduled to be executed on April 29 and his family residing in Johor received word of the execution via a letter dated April 22 from the Singapore Prison Service, according to LFL adviser N Surendran.
Surendran said that LFL is “appalled” by the decision to execute Datchinamurthy despite a pending legal challenge in the Singapore High Court.
The 36-year-old has been on death row in Singapore’s Changi prison since being convicted of trafficking 44.96g of diamorphine in 2015. Heroin is made from diamorphine.
“In a clear act of discrimination, his Singaporean co-accused was spared the death sentence by a special certificate of the attorney-general of Singapore.
“We are appalled and disturbed that Singapore plans to hang Datchinamurthy although he has a legal challenge still pending in the Singapore High Court,” Surendran said in a statement today, adding that the case is on the court hearing list for May 20.
Contempt of court
The LFL adviser further pointed out that the issuance of the execution notice despite ongoing legal proceedings was a “fundamental breach of his right to life and right to a fair trial in Article 9(1) of the Singaporean Constitution”.
Article 9(1) of Singapore’s Constitution stipulates that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with the law.
“No civilised country in the world hangs a person in the middle of the court process.
“By issuing this execution notice, the Singapore Prison Service and the Singapore home minister are in clear and serious contempt of court.
“The attorney-general of Singapore, having knowledge and being complicit in the planned execution, is equally in contempt of court,” Surendran said.
LFL said that blocking a death row inmate from access to the courts by executing him prior to the hearing is in breach of international law and Singapore’s Constitution.
"It will reduce Singapore to a pariah state," Surendran added.
Back-to-back executions?
If the execution proceeds as planned, it will come a mere two days after fellow Malaysian Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam is scheduled to be executed on April 27.
The 33-year-old was sentenced to death in 2011 for trafficking 42.72g of diamorphine into Singapore.
He was scheduled to be executed on Nov 10 but was granted a stay of execution on Nov 8 after his lawyers filed an 11th-hour constitutional challenge.
He later tested positive for Covid-19, resulting in an extension of the stay until after recovery and after the appellate court heard his case.
His appeal, on the argument put forward by his legal team that he should be spared because he was mentally impaired, was dismissed in March.
Nagaenthran's case has sparked an outcry in Malaysia, Singapore and internationally with particular attention on his lower-than-average IQ of 69, which is within the range of someone with a mild intellectual disability.
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