Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today condemned the Singapore court's decision to suspend human rights lawyer M Ravi, who had been active in fighting for the rights of Malaysians sentenced to death by the republic.

In a statement, LFL director Zaid Malek said Ravi's five-year suspension would have a direct effect on the constitutional rights of Malaysians facing the death sentence to a fair trial.

He said the suspension had stemmed from Ravi's statement critical of the Singapore Attorney-General's Chambers, whom the lawyer alleged as being "overzealous" in dealing with a case involving Gobi Avedian, a Malaysian who had previously been sentenced to death over the importation of some 40gm of heroin.

Gobi's conviction had since been reversed by a bench of Court of Appeal judges in 2020, who then found him guilty of a reduced charge and sentenced him to 15 years jail and 10 strokes.

"Gobi’s sentence was commuted from death to imprisonment instead as a result of Ravi’s tireless efforts on his behalf.

"Instead of being lauded for his work in preventing the wrongful execution of Gobi, Ravi (above) was instead targeted for his comment that the Singapore AGC was 'overzealous' in dealing with Gobi’s case.

"Ravi’s comment was fair and proven to be true by the landmark decision of the court in overturning the death sentence.

Zaid Malek

"Any lawyer is expected to uphold the rule of law and must speak without fear or favour on behalf of his client, yet Ravi is now punished for doing exactly that," Zaid said in his statement.

According to a report by Singapore daily The Straits Times yesterday, Ravi, who is based in Singapore, was handed the suspension for making "baseless and grave" allegations against the republic's attorney-general, prosecutors, and the Singapore Law Society.

This was related to his comments following the reversal of Gobi's capital sentence, where Ravi made several allegations against the prosecution, including alleging the prosecution of being overzealous in prosecuting Gobi.

Zaid also criticised the Law Society, which he said has failed to protect one of its own and turned its back on attacks Ravi suffered from government institutions.

"The suspension is truly the final nail in the coffin on the state of justice in Singapore, as it is a resounding warning to all Singaporean lawyers.

"This has a direct effect on the constitutional right to a fair trial of many Malaysians now languishing on death row in the notorious Changi prison.

"We thus strongly condemn the decision to impose the five-year suspension on Ravi, and urge the Singaporean government to stop its harassment and intimidation of lawyers representing Malaysian prisoners in their country," he said.