HUMAN rights activists have urged Singapore to halt the looming execution of a Malaysian drug trafficker, citing a pending appeal in his home country and alleged flaws in his trial.

Prabagaran Srivijayan was sentenced to death in 2012 for trafficking 22.24g of heroin, but has consistently maintained his innocence. 

He was expected to be hanged on Friday, said Amnesty International and other activists quoting members of his family.

Trafficking certain volumes of illegal drugs carries the mandatory death penalty in Singapore, except if certain conditions are met for it to be commuted to a life sentence.

“Singaporean authorities must immediately halt his execution before another person suffers this inhumane and irreversible punishment,” said James Gomez, Amnesty’s director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, yesterday.

Amnesty said the convict’s lawyers had raised concerns about the fairness of his trial, including the authorities’ alleged failure “to follow up on leads and call on key witnesses that would corroborate his version of events”.

Prabagaran’s lawyers had also launched a case in Malaysia, where the Court of Appeal was considering an application to refer Singapore to the International Court of Justice over concerns about the trial, according to activists. 

Both Malaysia and Singapore execute murderers and drug traffickers by hanging, a system which dates back to British colonial rule.

Today, Singapore anti-death penalty group We Believe in Second Chances also called for Prabagaran’s execution to be halted. – AFP, July 12, 2017.

HUMAN rights activists have urged Singapore to halt the looming execution of a Malaysian drug trafficker, citing a pending appeal in his home country and alleged flaws in his trial.

Prabagaran Srivijayan was sentenced to death in 2012 for trafficking 22.24g of heroin, but has consistently maintained his innocence. 

He was expected to be hanged on Friday, said Amnesty International and other activists quoting members of his family.

Trafficking certain volumes of illegal drugs carries the mandatory death penalty in Singapore, except if certain conditions are met for it to be commuted to a life sentence.

“Singaporean authorities must immediately halt his execution before another person suffers this inhumane and irreversible punishment,” said James Gomez, Amnesty’s director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, yesterday.

Amnesty said the convict’s lawyers had raised concerns about the fairness of his trial, including the authorities’ alleged failure “to follow up on leads and call on key witnesses that would corroborate his version of events”.

Prabagaran’s lawyers had also launched a case in Malaysia, where the Court of Appeal was considering an application to refer Singapore to the International Court of Justice over concerns about the trial, according to activists. 

Both Malaysia and Singapore execute murderers and drug traffickers by hanging, a system which dates back to British colonial rule.

Today, Singapore anti-death penalty group We Believe in Second Chances also called for Prabagaran’s execution to be halted. – AFP, July 12, 2017.