KOTA KINABALU – Malaysian, including Sabahan and Sarawakian, legal groups are appealing to the Singapore government for clemency for a Sabahan with low IQ set to be sent to the gallows.
The Sabahan, Pausi Jefridin, who is intellectually disabled, having been medically assessed to have an IQ level of 67, was convicted of drug trafficking charges in 2010.
He is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday.
Sabah Law Society (SLS) president Roger Chin in a statement said that the presidents of SLS, Advocates’ Association of Sarawak and the States of Malaya had written two letters to the Singaporean president and prime minister.
“Both letters called upon the Singapore government to exercise its powers of clemency to commute the death sentence imposed on Pausi.
“The Singapore courts had decided that his intellectual capacity was not diminished, and that he was fully cognizant of his actions and fully appreciated their legal consequences.
“As such, there was no reason to disturb the finding of guilt and the imposition of the death penalty.
“Our joint letter did not call for a review of the legal process in Pausi’s case. Our call to the government of Singapore is in relation to exercising mercy,” he said in a statement here today.
Chin said Singapore has signed and ratified the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and therefore, must honour these commitments, which include not executing people with intellectual disabilities.
“We sincerely and humbly urge the government of Singapore to give these all due and necessary consideration.
“Saving the life of Pausi is not about putting the life of an individual ahead of the legitimate concerns of society, but about promoting the values of humanity and forgiveness.
“Any system of justice that is deserving of respect is one that has space for compassion, forgiveness and mercy,” he said. – The Vibes, February 14, 2022
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