Malaysian's execution in Singapore halted, reason unknown

Singapore prison authorities have halted the execution of Malaysian K Datchinamurthy, which was scheduled for this morning, according to lawyer and activist N Surendran.

In a brief statement, he said the Singapore Prison Service informed Datchinamurthy’s family about the matter via a phone call after midnight today.

However, there was no further information on the reason behind the decision.

"The execution of Datchinamurthy at Changi prison, which was scheduled for this morning, was not carried out. His family received a call from the prison after midnight informing them of this.

"We have no further information at this point. We are praying for the best outcome," said the Lawyers for Liberty adviser.

Datchinamurthy, 39, has been on death row for a decade for smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into the republic.

He was first sentenced to death in 2015 following his arrest in 2011, and was scheduled to be executed in 2022.

However, he obtained a stay of execution from the Singapore High Court pending his legal suit against the Singapore government over his death sentence.

He is also one of four Malaysians on death row in Singapore whom Suhakam had highlighted earlier this month as part of its appeal for Putrajaya to intervene in their executions.

The other three are P Pannir Selvam, S Saminathan, and R Lingkesvaran.

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