Batumalai brothers' execution brought forward to tomorrow

Amnesty International Malaysia (AI-M) has condemned the move to expedite the execution of Rames and Suthar Batumalai, which was supposed to be this Friday, to dawn, tomorrow.

"AI-M condemns the decision to execute the brothers, which seems to be made in a hurried and secretive manner," the group said in a statement.

According to the rights group, the news had caught the family by surprise, as they had only been notified of the executions via letter on March 13 that they are to pay their last visit to the two men on March 14 (today).

“Malaysia carries out executions on Friday mornings and this double execution would be the first ever execution that we are aware of to take place on a Wednesday morning.

"This is symbolic of the rushed nature of this particular execution.” Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, AI-M’s executive director said.

When contacted, lawyer P Uthayakumar said this is unprecedented because executions normally take place on Fridays.

"It is also unusual that they brought forward the date of the execution," he added.

The executions of the two brothers which were postponed last month after an eleventh-hour plea for clemency by their family, was initially thought to proceed this Friday, though the group had called for the executions to be stayed pending their submission for pardon.

"This is a surprising move, considering there is a clemency application pending a decision by the Negeri Sembilan Pardons Board. Rames and Suthar must not be executed while there is an appeal pending," Amnesty executive director K Shamini Darshni said in a statement.

The brothers, aged 45 and 40, were sentenced to death in April 2010, over a murder committed in Feb 2006. Both have maintained their innocence.

According to Shamini, the clemency application submitted by the duo's lawyers included a statutory declaration from the wife of the deceased, appealing to the pardons board for the brothers to be spared the gallows, and sentenced to life behind bars instead.

"If the victim's family has moved to intercept the execution, the pardons board should consider this and allow for every avenue to be exhausted before considering taking a life."

She reiterated her claim that the brothers were convicted on circumstantial evidence alone, as the High Court disregarded their claim that they had intervened to stop two other men from attacking and killing the deceased, and that the deceased's wife was never called to testify.

"Her testimony could have corroborated the brothers' version of the facts and the involvement of the two other men in the murder."

Rames and Suthar's execution was halted on Feb 24, after their 70-year-old mother petitioned the Negeri Sembilan Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, pleading for the ruler to commute the sentence or replace it with a life sentence (20 years).

The brothers' lawyer had also sent a petition to the deputy director of the Kajang prison, and both the petitions were acknowledged by the prison and the Negeri Sembilan state government.

Shamini had then lauded the Negeri Sembilan ruler's "act of mercy" and said the intervention would give the duo's lawyers time to work on the case further.

Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru had also echoed her remarks, saying sufficient time and opportunity must be given to the brothers' lawyers to explore new avenues to support the clemency bid, before any new sentence is meted out.- Mkini