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KUALA LUMPUR – Representatives from Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) have been questioned by police this morning over their participation in Saturday’s protest outside the Singapore High Commission here that demanded Malaysian Nagaenthran Dharmalingam be spared from the gallows.
The trio consisting of LFL chief coordinator Zaid Malek, Mahajoth Singh and Nabila Khairuddin were accompanied by their lawyer Latheefa Koya during the one-hour questioning that started at 11am.
“They are investigating the protest under the Peaceful Assembly Act, and they asked the usual questions of who were the organisers and whether permits had been applied for,” Latheefa told The Vibes outside the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.
She explained that those present were merely invoking their right to gather peacefully in public.
Zaid echoed Latheefa when he said questions from police mainly revolved around who had organised last Saturday’s gathering. He instead urged authorities to focus their attention on Nagaenthran’s survival.
“We understand the police are just trying to do their job, but they should be dedicating their resources to making sure Nagaenthran survives. So, stop wasting time with us and focus on Nagaenthran,” said Zaid.
He added that efforts to secure Nagaenthran’s survival are not only the responsibility of authorities but of the entire government and lawmakers.
“The MPs, governments, they must do their job to save Nagaenthran from the gallows.”
This came after political groups and civil society organisations gathered outside the Singapore High Commission on Saturday to protest the city-state’s decision to go ahead with the execution of Nagaenthran.
Nagaenthran, 34, was arrested in 2009 for trafficking 42.74g of heroin into the city-state.
He was charged and later convicted the following year, with multiple appeals and clemency petitions filed since then – all proving to be unsuccessful in overturning his death sentence.
He is scheduled to be executed in Singapore tomorrow.
The protest against his impending execution, which included calls for Putrajaya to step in, managed to draw in a crowd of around 200, with groups led by MIC’s Youth and Women wings, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network and LFL. – The Vibes, April 26, 2022
