[UPDATED] Singapore president grants respite to two death row inmates

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Pausi Jefridin and Singaporean Roslan Bakar, who were supposed to be executed yesterday, have been granted a respite by the republic’s president, Halimah Yacob.

The matter was revealed by human rights lawyer M. Ravi, who uploaded on Facebook a letter dated today issued by the Singapore Prison Service to Roslan’s family notifying them of the decision.

“This is to inform you that the President of the Republic of Singapore has ordered a respite of the execution of your brother, Roslan Bakar,” it read.

He uploaded a separate posting moments later, confirming Halimah had also given a respite and stayed the execution of Pausi.

Lawyers for Liberty coordinator Zaid Malek told The Vibes that Pausi’s family members have also confirmed the matter to Ravi. 

“Respite is not clemency, so the execution sentence is still there, but the date has been essentially postponed indefinitely.”

The president’s decision to order the reprieve was done in accordance with Article 22P(1) of Singapore's constitution and Section 313(h) of its Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). 

Article 22P(1)(b) of the constitution states that the president may grant any convicted offender a pardon, free or subject to lawful conditions, or any reprieve or respite, either indefinite or for such period as he may think fit. 

Section 313(h) of the CPC stipulates that the president may, at any time before the warrant is carried out, order a respite of the execution and afterwards appoint some other time or other place for its execution. 

Roslan and Pausi were supposed to head to the gallows yesterday before the republic’s high court granted an eleventh-hour interim stay of execution, pending the filing of an appeal.

The appellate court, however, dismissed the appeal yesterday evening. 

Lawyers representing the convicts then filed a fresh application challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty, which was heard this morning. 

The Vibes has yet to receive confirmation on today’s court decision. 

Pausi and Roslan were sentenced to death in Singapore for drug trafficking and have been on death row since 2010.

Their planned execution yesterday has been heavily criticised by rights groups seeking the Singapore government to consider granting clemency to Pausi, who has been confirmed by an expert to have low IQ. 

Roslan, meanwhile, was found by experts to have “limited capacity for judgment and decision-making due to underlying cognitive defects”. – The Vibes, February 17, 2022