SINGAPORE had its first criminal case in which a death sentence was pronounced by remote hearing on May 15, 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The case involved a Malaysian man, Punithan Genasan, 37, who was behind trafficking in 28.50g of diamorphine in October 2011.

“In line with measures to minimise the further spread of the Covid-19, the courts have been conducting hearings, including hearings on criminal matters remotely,” said a Supreme Court spokeman in a statement here.

“Hence, for the safety of all involved in the proceedings, the hearing for Public Prosecutor v Punithan A/L Genasan was conducted by video conferencing. It was the first criminal case where a death sentence was pronounced by remote hearing in Singapore,” the spokesperson said.

Singapore kicked in its stricter circuit-breaker measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus on April 7, and it is scheduled to end on June 1.

It was reported by a local daily that high court judge Chan Seng Onn, pronounced the mandatory death penalty in a hearing on video-conferencing platform Zoom. – Bernama, May 20, 2020.