KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian death row inmate in Singapore, Datchinamurthy Kataiah, is filing a suit for a stay on his sentencing a day before he is due to be executed.
Malaysian legal group Lawyers for Liberty’s chief coordinator Zaid Malek said that the high court hearing is scheduled via video conferencing at 9.30am tomorrow, on the eve of the execution.
Zaid said the application is being made through a judicial review to prohibit Friday’s execution on grounds that it is unlawful to take him to the gallows while he still has another legal challenge pending, which is fixed for hearing on May 20.
“It is unheard of for an execution to be carried out while the prisoner’s case is still ongoing in court,” Zaid said in a statement
Datchinamurthy, 36, from Johor Baru, has been on death row in Changi prison since his conviction by the high court for allegedly trafficking 44.96g of diamorphine.
On April 22, Lawyers for Liberty advisor N. Surendran said the Singapore government’s decision to execute Datchinamurthy on April 29, despite an ongoing court case in the high court there, constitutes contempt of court and is unlawful.
Zaid said Datchinamurthy had made and filed the action himself through the Changi Prison. He will be arguing his own case because he and his family have been unable to secure the services of a lawyer.
He said lawyers in Singapore are afraid to represent death row prisoners due to fear of reprisals from the attorney-general and the courts.
“Hence, Datchinamurthy who is a layperson is forced to argue his own case in court, upon which his life will depend,” he said.
“This denial of a fair legal process and representation by a lawyer to a Malaysian citizen facing imminent execution is shocking and unacceptable.”
The announcement on Datchinamurthy’s suit comes less than a day after Singaporean authorities executed Malaysian man Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 33, early this morning.
The hanging at around 6am in the republic’s Changi Prison was carried out despite global condemnation and last-minute appeals from family and lawyers.
Nagaenthran, who was arrested in 2009 for trafficking 42.72g of heroin into the city-state, was certified during his trial to have an IQ of 69.
However, the trial judge ruled that he was on the borderline of having a functional intellect and the court concluded that he was aware he was committing a crime.
Nagaenthran’s funeral is planned to take place at his hometown in Tg Rambutan near Ipoh tomorrow. – The Vibes, April 27, 2022
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