[UPDATED] Kalwant to hang tomorrow after S’pore appeals court dismisses stay bid

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian citizen Kalwant Singh, who is on death row in Singapore for a drug offence, will be hanged tomorrow after failing in his final bid to escape the gallows. 

This follows the republic’s Court of Appeal’s decision this evening to dismiss the 32-year-old’s final application to stay his execution, according to Lawyers for Liberty. 

“He will be executed tomorrow morning,” the rights group said in a tweet today. 

Kalwant’s scheduled execution comes just over a month after another Malaysian, Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, was similarly executed in Singapore on April 27, despite global outcry.

Previously, on June 30, it was reported that the Singapore government had issued the execution notice for Kalwant, with the execution set to be carried out tomorrow.

He was arrested in the island state in 2013, when he was 23 years old, for possessing 60.15g of diamorphine and trafficking 120.9g of the substance, before being convicted three years later.

He has been on death row since.

His co-accused, who was charged with possessing the same 120.9g of the drug for the purposes of trafficking, was granted a certificate of substantive assistance by police and sentenced to life imprisonment as well as 15 strokes of the cane. 

Singapore’s trial court and Court of Appeal had previously found both men to be acting as couriers.

In a statement last week, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) called for Kalwant’s execution to be stopped and to align Singapore’s laws with international standards where the death penalty can only be applied for the most serious of crimes involving intentional killing.

“Singapore’s eagerness to pursue executions for drug offences is a flagrant disregard for the right to a fair trial. Pursuing these cases has substantially damaged Singapore’s reputation.

“This planned execution cements the perception that Singapore does not value human life and instead only cares to maintain a facade of success in their war on drugs.” 

On Monday, The Vibes had reported that Kalwant’s family was facing difficulties finding a Singaporean lawyer willing to take up his case, and was racing against time to file for clemency. 

The family was only notified of the execution on June 30, leaving them little time to file their case. – The Vibes, July 6, 2022