Save my son, death row inmate's mom pleads to PM Najib

Which mother's heart would not break knowing that her beloved son is awaiting execution.

Such is the emotional suffering wrought on the mother of Prabagaran Srivijayan, a Malaysian who was put on death row in Singapore, after he was convicted of drug trafficking.

His grief-stricken mother Eswary Vengatasamy, today made an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, hoping that the government would intervene to save her son's life.

This was conveyed by the tearful Eswary in an open letter to the PM which was read out by a representative, between her intermittent sobs and streaming tears during a sombre press conference today.

In her letter, Eswary lamented that her eldest of two sons, does not deserve to have his life cut short by the hangman's noose.

As her son is a Malaysian citizen, the 54-year-old argued that it is the responsibility of the government to defend the rights and life of her son.

"I humbly beg the government to take action to save my son Prabagaran.

"My son does not deserve to be hung. I can't accept this. He is my son, he is a good person with no bad traits. Please do not take my son's life.

"The government has a responsibility to defend my son's right to life and justice," she said in her open letter.

That fateful day when he drove

Eswary also called for all Malaysians to lend her their support in her quest to save her son's life.

"I appeal to all Malaysians to support me in this case. I am a single mother, I cannot do anything without your help and support," Eswary wrote in the letter.

In her missive, she also related how Prabagaran, who usually rode a motorcycle, got the car he drove into Singapore, when he was arrested on the morning of Apr 12, 2012 at the Woodlands checkpoint.

"He usually rode his motorcycle to Singapore every day. But he told me that he was afraid to use his motorcycle that day because it may be repossessed, as he had missed out on his loan repayments.

"He later went to borrow his friend's motorcycle but his friend gave him a car instead. He was later arrested by cops because they found 'stuff' (drugs) in the car," she said, relating that her son worked at a gas station across the causeway.

Room for doubt

According to news reports, Prabagaran was found guilty of transporting 22.24 grammes of heroin to the island republic on Sep 22 2014 and was sentenced to hang.

During his trial, 27-year-old Prabagaran denied any knowledge of the drugs that authorities found in the car he was driving.

Prior to this Padang Serai MP N Surendran had spoken out to highlight Prabagaran's plight.

In his statement to the media on the matter, Surendran said that Prabagaran, who had already exhausted all his legal avenues for appeal, was convicted in a trial that still leave some room for doubt, considering that certain evidence were left out by the defence.

"His conviction and sentencing raises serious concerns about the judicial process during the trial and appeals," said the lawyer, noting that two witnesses crucial to Prabagaran's defence were never called to testify despite full details already submitted to the republic's Central Narcotics Bureau.- Mkini