PETALING JAYA: The Singapore courts will hear the appeal against their death penalty by Malaysians Pausi Jefridin and Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam next week.
In a press conference, Dobby Chew of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) said the courts will be hearing the challenges by Pausi, along with Singaporeans Roslan Bakar and Rosman Abdullah, on the constitutionality of their death penalty on Feb 28. Nagaenthran’s appeal will take place the next day.
“Adpan is closely monitoring the upcoming court hearings involving these four men,” he said.
Chew said Pausi had been certified as having an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 67 but the trial judge had ruled that a low IQ level alone was not evidence of an abnormality of the mind.
As for Nagaenthran, besides the constitutionality of his death sentence, his appeal will also involve a motion to have his mental condition re-assessed by a new panel of psychiatrists.
At the press conference, activist and freelance journalist Kirsten Han said that between 2020 and 2021, there had been no executions. So, there was now a fear that executions are taking place to clear the backlog of cases.
“One reason for the backlog is back in 2012 or 2013, Singapore amended their Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 to change the criteria for the courts to sentence someone to life imprisonment or death.
“As a result, inmates who were convicted and sentenced became eligible for resentencing, causing a backlog in cases. These four men are also eligible for such resentencing,” she said.
Last Thursday, Singapore President Halimah Yacob suspended the execution of Pausi and Roslan, who were convicted of drug trafficking in 2010.
The two men were scheduled to be executed the previous day but were granted an interim stay of execution pending an appeal. The appeal, however, was turned down.
Lawyers for the two men have since filed another application to challenge the constitutionality of the death penalty. - FMT
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