Chong Yun Fak, now 60, was arrested on July 23, 1987.

He was charged for trafficking in 47.4gm of heroin at Taman Seri Pelangi, Johor Bahru, and was jailed the same year.

On March 22, 1992, Chong, a father of four, was sentenced to death.

At a press conference today, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) coordinator Sky Siaw said Chong should be pardoned. He also submitted a memorandum on the matter to the office of law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

In the memorandum, Adpan said it was “unjust” to execute Chong, who had been in prison for over 34 years, including 29 years in death row.

It claimed Chong’s right to seek pardon had been hampered by a lack of due process, and that maintaining the death sentence was not in line with the government’s plans to scrap the death penalty.

Siaw said Chong’s family had filed many petitions to the Johor Pardons Board, pleading for clemency, but had never received any official response.