Human rights lawyers organisation Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has claimed it has yet to be contacted by Singapore authorities to collect “evidence” of alleged unlawful, brutal hanging methods practised by prison services there.
This was despite it being almost a month since the organisation first came forth with the claim it had obtained information proving so from prison officers stationed in execution chambers.
Even so, LFL advisor N Surendran said his organisation will attempt to meet with Singapore authorities as the former is still prepared to hand over all evidence.
“We’ve waited for some sort of response...we think the next step is to communicate (with Singapore authorities) and ask if they are prepared to engage with us on this.
“I would think Singapore would be more than happy to get hold of this evidence,” he said when contacted by Malaysiakini.
He said LFL will send a letter to the island republic soon and would give them a “reasonable timeframe” by which to respond.
Failing which, he said LFL would have “no choice” but to reveal the information.
“We prefer to go through their official channels. If this fails, we will definitely release the information, as this pertains to human lives.
“[...]It is a very serious situation and may even have a regional impact in so far as the carrying out and maintenance of the death penalty by way of hanging,” he added.
On Nov 23, LFL issued a statement claiming to have collected “incontrovertible” evidence that point to the practice of “unlawful and extremely brutal methods are secretly used” by the Singapore Prison Services (SPS) to hang prisoners.
It has declined to reveal the information at the time to protect its sources but said it was willing to discuss the evidence with Singapore authorities.
The LFL called on Singapore to a place a moratorium on hanging for drug offences for the time being.
Malaysiakini has attempted to contact Singapore authorities but has been unsuccessful.
The LFL has previously spoken out against the hanging of several Malaysians convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore.
It claimed such a practice would only affect alleged mules in trafficking cases while allowing drug kingpins to evade prosecution.
Surendran has also previously accused Singapore of targeting Malaysian prisoners.
However, Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry had on July 13 issued a statement denying it had targeted Malaysians on its death row.
The ministry said such allegations were "baseless" and that the republic's laws applied equally to both locals and foreigners. - Mkini
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