Kasthuri, who is secretary for DAP’s international affairs bureau, asked why Malaysian police, immigration and customs officers failed to stop and search drug mules before they crossed into Singapore.
“The burning and inevitable question here is why were they not apprehended by customs officers or police on Malaysian soil?
“Did the Malaysian officers not know of the packages on these men or in their vehicles?
“Or were they aware of it but ‘allowed’ them to pass through the Malaysian border checkpoint into Singapore so that they could be apprehended there?” she said in a statement.
Datchinamurthy, 39, was arrested at the Woodlands checkpoint in 2011 and sentenced to death four years later for smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into the island state.
He was scheduled to be executed in 2022 but obtained a stay of execution pending a legal suit against the Singapore government over his death sentence. He was executed on Thursday after his appeal failed and his petitions for clemency were unsuccessful.
He was one of four Malaysians on death row in Singapore whose cases the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) had urged the government to intervene in.
The other three are P Pannir Selvam, S Saminathan and R Lingkesvaran.
Kasthuri said it was high time the authorities at checkpoints and border patrols increased resources and expertise, in terms of hardware and software, to nab drug mules from transporting drugs across the border.
“Malaysian enforcement authorities must be equipped to identify drug smugglers at our own border checkpoints to retrieve vital information on drug syndicates.
“This will give police, customs and immigration officers deeper insight into the traffickers and recruiters who prey on their victims,” she said.
Kasthuri pointed out that these drug mules often came from poor and marginalised backgrounds and were conned, coerced, blackmailed and threatened to transport drugs across the border.
“Malaysia must do better in upholding not only the rule of law but also justice, equality, freedom and truth – without judgement, fear or favour, and especially for Malaysians on death row abroad,” she said.