KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian citizen Datchinamurthy Kataiah, who was scheduled to be hanged in Singapore in less than 24 hours, has been granted a last-minute stay of execution.
This is to allow due process to be carried out for his pending court hearing in the city-state that was previously fixed for next month.
Human rights lawyer M. Ravi shared this news on his Facebook page today, saying the Singapore High Court has accepted Datchinamurthy’s eleventh-hour application to stay his execution.
“This is pending the outcome of the hearing of his prison correspondence misconduct legal challenge to be heard on May 20,” said the Singapore-based lawyer.
“This underscores the importance of exhausting the legal process and trying until the end and not giving up.”
The matter was also confirmed by Lawyers for Liberty adviser N. Surendran on Twitter, who said the planned execution tomorrow will not be carried out.
Datchinamurthy had argued today’s case himself after he and his family failed to secure the services of a lawyer, as Singaporeans legal practitioners have alleged fear of reprisal from the state.
The inmate, who has been on death row in Singapore’s notorious Changi Prison since he was convicted in 2015 for drug trafficking, was initially scheduled for execution tomorrow, just two days after another Malaysian, Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, was sent to the gallows.
Nagaenthran’s execution at dawn yesterday was carried out despite public outcry and strong protest globally, including by politicians and celebrities.
His hanging particularly sparked strong debate of injustice, with many highlighting that his intellectual disability might have made him oblivious to the risks and severity of his action of trafficking substances.
However, Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau yesterday outlined court findings that proved Nagaenthran was mentally sound and fully aware of his criminal actions.
Datchinamurthy, 36, was arrested along with Singaporean Christeen Jayamany at the Woodlands checkpoint on January 18, 2011 for allegedly trafficking 44.96g of diamorphine, and have been incarcerated since.
The Johor Baru-born individual, in his defence, had said he thought the drugs he was carrying were Chinese medicine, after he was offered a job to transport the item by a man named “Rajah”.
Multiple appeals to overturn his sentence and seek clemency were dismissed by Singapore, before the government notified Datchinamurthy’s family via a letter on April 21 of his execution tomorrow.
Rights groups have since lambasted the republic’s decision to execute Datchinamurthy despite an ongoing court hearing listed for May 20.
Datchinamurthy filed for a last-minute judicial review to prohibit tomorrow’s execution on the grounds that it is unlawful to hang him while he still has another pending legal challenge. – The Vibes, April 28, 2022
