Singapore Hangs 29-Year-Old Malaysian For Drug Trafficking. Everything You Should Know
There were calls from the United Nations and others to pause his execution.
By Sadho Ram — 15 Jul 2017, 10:58 AM
A Malaysian national, Prabagaran Srivijayan, was executed at the Changi Prison in Singapore, in the wee hours of Friday morning
Prabagaran was convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore
The 29-year-old was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint on 12 April 2012, with two packets containing 22.24g of diamorphine (pure heroin), that were recovered from a Malaysian-registered car he was driving, Bernama reported.
While Prabagaran had said that he borrowed the car from a friend to enter Singapore that day because he was afraid that his motorcycle would be repossessed, on 22 July 2014 the High Court convicted him of importing 22.24g of diamorphine into Singapore.
He was eventually sentenced to death by the High Court two months later.
Prabagaran had brought his case to appeal against the conviction to the Court of Appeal a total of three times, but all his appeals were dismissed. While Prabagaran always maintained his innocence, he ultimately accepted that he would be executed.
According to Kirsten Han, the co-founder of We Believe in Second Chances, a Singapore-based group that fights against the death penalty, the 29-year-old always maintained his innocence, however, he accepted his fate.
"Those who were with him said he was jovial and joking with the prison guards even as the end neared," Kisten added.
While the Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau claims that Prabagaran was accorded full due process under the law, Amnesty International criticised the execution saying the trial was "unfair"
James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific said: "This execution is a shocking violation of the human right to life. That this cruel punishment has been administered after a trial filled with flaws makes this flouting of international law all the more disturbing.
"That an appeal was pending in this case in his home country at the time of execution, and that there were serious concerns about the fairness of his trial, underlines a flagrant disregard for due process in profoundly dubious circumstances."
According to Amnesty International, one of the things that show how it was an unfair trial as the authorities failed to follow up leads and call on key witnesses that would corroborate Prabagaran's version of events. He consistently maintained his innocence.
Prabagaran, at the time of his arrest and during his trial, always said that the car he was driving belonged to other individuals and that he was not aware of the presence of the drugs in the car. Based on which, Prabagaran's legal team raised serious concerns about the fairness of his trial.
Amnesty International Malaysia, in a tweet, called it a "dark day"
Today is a dark day. Yet today, we will also honour our struggle for human rights. #LiuXiabo #China #Prabagaran #Singapore pic.twitter.com/pigfU68GqP
— AI Malaysia (@AmnestyMy) July 14, 2017