Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), Amnesty International Malaysia and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) visited the Singapore High Commission today to convey their message to the republic that the execution of S Prabagaran, 29, must be put on hold.
LFL representative Raul Lee Bhaskaran said he wanted to point out to the government of Singapore that the activists are not challenging the fact that a Malaysian citizen is going to be hanged, but on the basis of fair trial procedures which Prabagaran was allegedly denied, during the trial.
“We are compelling the Malaysian government and Wisma Putra to take Singapore to court because Prabagaran has a constitutional right under Article 5 which is the right to life,” he told reporters outside the High Commission.
Raul said that LFL had filed the application for judicial review on Jan 16 in the hope that it would compel the Malaysian government to lodge an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to challenge alleged absence of a fair trial.
Prabagaran faces execution in a few weeks’ time for drug trafficking. His mother handed over a memorandum to Putrajaya on Dec 21 to intervene.
Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni said that she conveyed to the representative of the Singapore High Commission that they are putting this case through the ICJ and will need time for due process to take place.
“On Amnesty’s side we are appealing for the Singapore government not to hang Prabagaran and review the laws on death penalty in Singapore and to hopefully abolish it.”
Shamini also said that she handed letters of support from Amnesty members to grant clemency for Prabagaran.
Prabagaran was convicted in 2012 after 22.24g of diamorphine, a pure form of heroin, was found in his car at the Singaporean immigration checkpoint.
He has maintained his innocence, claiming that he didn’t own the car he drove and wasn’t aware of the drugs being in it.
He said he had also helped Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau to disrupt drug activities.