On Friday, the court ordered lawyer M Ravi to pay the prosecution personal costs of S$5,000 over an application he made in the case of a drug trafficker on death row, where Ravi was the defence counsel.
This case led to disclosures in court that Singapore authorities had been illegally spying on communications from prison between Malaysian death row prisoners and their lawyers and families.
LFL adviser N Surendran said the latest fine imposed upon Ravi for doing his duty as defence counsel in a death penalty case was unprecedented, and linked to his high-profile defence of many Malaysian drug mules on death row.
Surendran said the fine was intended to prevent Ravi from vigorously pursuing appeals in the cases of the other Malaysians on death row.
“This persecution of Ravi by the Singapore government, the attorney-general (AG) and judiciary over his strong stance against the death penalty has been long-standing and a black mark on Singapore’s international reputation.
“We strongly urge the Singapore government to respect the rule of law and allow Ravi to carry on his efforts on behalf of Malaysian death row prisoners without further subjecting him to such oppressive proceedings,” he said in a statement today.
Surendran said Ravi has been the repeated target of harassment and intimidation by the Singapore government and attorney-general since he took up the cases of Malaysian drug mules on death row.
“In October last year, Ravi’s efforts saved Malaysian citizen Gobi Avedian from hanging, after he succeeded in reopening the case.
“The Singapore AG has also brought a disciplinary action against Ravi, by faulting legitimate court applications Ravi had pursued in Gobi Avedian’s case,” he said.
Last year, Ravi was also fined S$10,000 by the disciplinary tribunal of Singapore’s law society following a complaint by the attorney-general over a press conference held by him and LFL in July 2019.
At the press conference, Ravi had criticised Singapore for planning to execute Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who was convicted of drug trafficking, saying his client was mentally ill and, with an IQ of only 69, had little understanding of the situation he was in.