KUALA LUMPUR – Singapore has executed Malaysian citizen Kalwant Singh after his final bid to escape the gallows was rejected yesterday.
The matter was confirmed by Singaporean human rights activist Kirsten Han, who tweeted that his family had been handed his belongings and death certificate.
I am sad to be able to confirm the executions of both Kalwant Singh and Norasharee bin Gous. Both families have been handed their belongings and death certificates. Kalwant’s family are still in prison; I am on my way to Norasharee’s funeral. #deathpenalty #Singapore
— Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 (@kixes) July 7, 2022
Hanged alongside Kalwant was Norasharee Gous, who was arrested in relation to the same case based on the testimony of another co-accused who was spared the death penalty after being granted a certificate of substantive assistance by police.
“Kalwant’s family is still in prison. I am on my way to Norasharee’s funeral,” Kirsten said.
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 today.
He was arrested in the island state in 2013 for possessing 60.15g of diamorphine and trafficking 120.9g of the substance, before being convicted three years later.
He had been on death row since then.
His co-accused, who was charged with possessing the same 120.9g of the drug for the purposes of trafficking, has since been sentenced to life imprisonment as well as 15 strokes of the cane.
Singapore’s trial court and Court of Appeal had previously found Kalwant and his co-accused to be acting as couriers.
On the eve of his execution, some 20 people, including human rights advocates, held a candlelight vigil as a final protest against Kalwant’s death sentence in Singapore.
Standing in front of the Singapore High Commission tonight, the attendees chanted “save, save Kalwant” and “Singapore, stop the killing” while carrying placards that read messages like “#Putrajaya save Kalwant” and “we can live without the death penalty”.
Even after Kalwant’s appeal for a stay of execution was denied earlier today, all who attended remained steadfast in calling for the government to grant Kalwant clemency.
Among those perturbed by the turn of events was Angelia Pranthaman, a close family friend, who lamented that the 32-year-old was heading to the gallows despite being a victim of circumstances.
Angelia said that Kalwant had grown up in rough circumstances since his mother died when he was 12, and had made many decisions under duress that led him to a series of events and his eventual arrest in 2013.
He was only 23 years old at the time.
The feeling of hopelessness is all too familiar for Angelia, whose brother Pannir Selvam Pranthaman is also on death row in Singapore. – The Vibes, July 7, 2022
