tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79804991130432182202024-03-17T02:53:18.629+08:00The Death Penalty in SingaporeThe Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-25660669690234031962011-08-14T13:02:00.000+08:002011-08-14T13:02:54.810+08:00116 drug offenders nabbed in island—wide operations<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">CNA: <a href="http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5153429">116 drug offenders nabbed in island—wide operations</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div>SINGAPORE: Narcotics officers have nabbed 116 drug offenders in two major operations carried out island—wide over three days.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Eleven were arrested for suspected drug trafficking and 105 for suspected drug consumption.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers also seized drugs with a total estimated street value of S$83,700.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">In the first operation carried out on 10 and 11 August, they arrested nine people who were suspected of trafficking drugs at various locations.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">CNB officers also arrested 105 suspected drug abusers and those wanted for drug—related offences at various locations around Singapore including Clementi, Sengkang, Bukit Merah and North Bridge Road.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">The arrests led to a seizure of various drugs, including about 44 grammes of Ice and 32 grammes of heroin, with a total street value of S$16,200.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">In the morning of 12 August, CNB launched another major operation targeting a suspected drug distributor operating in the eastern part of Singapore.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Officers tailed the 41—year—old Singaporean from Ang Mo Kio where he met up with his accomplice.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">They were then tailed to Bedok where they were arrested by CNB officers.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Two bundles of heroin were found in their vehicle. The heroin weighed about 450 grammes and its street value was over S$67,500.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">The two men will be investigated for the offence of drug trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act and may face the death penalty if convicted.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;">— CNA/al</div></span>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-15353839908422591972011-08-13T10:07:00.001+08:002011-08-13T10:17:50.123+08:00Man charged for murder in Robinson Road building fire<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
<h1 class="headline" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.21em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/fire-robinson-road-building-kills-one-062326097.html">Yahoo: Man charged for murder in Robinson Road building fire</a></span></h1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><span id="advenueINTEXT">A 66-year-old man has been charged on Friday with the murder of a woman whose badly-burnt body was found following the Afro Asia Building fire on Wednesday morning.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Govindasamy Nallaiah is accused of killing Low Foong Meng, 56, in an office belonging to law firm, B Rengarajoo & Associates, reported <em style="font-style: italic;">Channel NewsAsia</em>.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">The building fire is believed to have started in the law firm, located on the sixth floor, and was contained within it.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><span id="advenueINTEXT"></span>It is believed that Govindasamy was a client of the firm. The firm is run by Low's partner, lawyer Rengarajoo Balasamy, whom she lived with. She also worked at the firm.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Govindasamy is now remanded at the Central Police Division and will be back in court on 19 August.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">If convicted of murder, he will face the death penalty.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">The Indian man was arrested at 10,50 pm on Wednesday in Jurong. <span id="advenueINTEXT"></span>The arrest was made 13 hours after the fire at law firm B Rengarajoo & Associates was reported.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The <a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AoY2JwbIJdVdo3LaHKEvvZ2hAeJ_;_ylu=X3oDMTB2ZWVzdXN0BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5QXNzZW1ibHk-;_ylg=X3oDMTJwdXRnaXZsBGludGwDc2cEbGFuZwNlbi1zZwRwc3RhaWQDYTU5MmI5MWEtNjRiYy0zOGEzLWE2ZjItOWJiNDY3NWU1NzZhBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=0/SIG=13j2vcml7/EXP=1314410484/**http%3A//sg.search.yahoo.com/search%3Fp=Singapore%2BCivil%2BDefence%2BForce%26fr=fp-today%26cs=bz" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;">Singapore Civil Defence Force</a> found Low's <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1312972113_2">body</span> on Wednesday after the fire was put out. There were no injuries reported otherwise.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at the seven-storey building at 63 Robinson Road at 10 am. Some 20 fire fighters were deployed to the affected unit to put out the fire.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The fire was confined to a unit measuring about 30 by 20 metres and did not spread to adjacent units, said SCDF. Officers took half an hour to control the fire and another half an hour to extinguish it.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Several vehicles were sent to the scene, including <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1312972113_1">fire engines</span>, four Red Rhinos, an ambulance and four support vehicles. Jet sprays were used outside the building to prevent the fire from spreading.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A support vehicle that was sent to help fight the fire experienced a glitch as its mechanical arm, used to lift firemen, stalled. SCDF said this did not hamper operations as officers could still get to the affected unit and bring the fire under control.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Officers from Central Police Division and the Criminal Investigation Department’s Special Investigation Section were at the scene to conduct investigations while officers from CID’s Forensic Management Branch and scientists from the Health Sciences Authority were present to gather forensic evidence.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Occupants, who just went through a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1312972113_0">fire drill</span> last week, evacuated on their own prior to SCDF's arrival.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Those whom <em style="font-style: italic;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1312972113_3">Yahoo! Singapore</span></em> spoke to said the couple have been working at the building for some 20 years.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Insurance agent Joyce Ng, 52, who works on the fifth floor, described Rengarajoo as friendly and helpful.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Other building occupants said they started noticing the smell of gas at about 9:30am and saw smoke on the sixth floor 20 minutes later. Building security evacuated the occupants and the process was cool and calm, they said.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This is the first time the building, one of the oldest in the area, caught fire, they said.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The building which was upgraded just three months ago is managed by Afro Asia Shipping Company (Pte Ltd).</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The cause of fire and the death is under investigation.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">For further enquiries on the matter, the public may call the police hotline at 1800-5471818.</div><div style="margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold;">- Additional reporting by Liyana Low</strong></div></span>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-41881871257419143302011-07-18T21:30:00.001+08:002011-07-18T21:31:10.615+08:00Singaporean woman faces death penalty for murder<div id="ctl00_cph1_ArticleContents1_divXtra"><div class="articleHeadline" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="articleHeadline" style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">TodayOnline: <a href="http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110713-0000071/Housemate-arrested-in-agents-murder-case">Housemate arrested in agent's murder case</a></span></div></div></div><div class="articleLeftColumn" id="ctl00_cph1_ArticleContents1_divArticleLeftColumn" style="display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 415px;"><div id="articlePlaceHolder" style="width: 415px;"><div class="bodyText" id="articlePage0" style="clear: both; display: inline; float: left; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 10px; visibility: visible; width: 415px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SINGAPORE - A 36-year-old Singaporean woman was arrested on Monday night in connection with the suspected murder of a property agent, whose highly decomposed body was found last Tuesday evening in bushes off Clementi Road.<br />
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Forensic tests have established the identity of the body to be Ms Celine Ng Swee Peng, 37, who had been missing since her birthday on May 26.<br />
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The suspect, who was arrested at about 11pm at East Coast Park, is believed to be Ms Ng's housemate in a two-bedroom apartment in Clementi. The suspect will be charged in court today with murder, which carries the death penalty.<br />
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According to a report published in The New Paper last month, Ms Ng had been drinking with her friends in her apartment on the eve of her birthday, when she spoke about going for a short holiday overseas.<br />
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The following day, Ms Ng, who apparently had her mobile phone and passport with her, was nowhere to be found. Her parents, older brother and her housemate reported the fact that Ms Ng was missing to the police on May 28.<br />
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In the report, Ms Ng's housemate described her as having a "very close relationship with her mum". "She wouldn't be away for so many days without contacting her mum. We're so worried that something may have happened to her," the housemate was quoted as saying.<br />
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Yesterday evening, the suspect led police investigators to West Coast Park, where they spent about an hour trawling through some bushes, purportedly looking for Ms Ng's personal belongings and to gather evidence. The bushes were even chopped down but MediaCorp understands nothing was recovered from the spot.<br />
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The suspect, who was cuffed on her wrists and ankles, kept her head bowed most of the time.</span></div></div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-77982074722347536632011-07-18T21:21:00.001+08:002011-07-18T21:21:52.557+08:00At least one execution since Vui Kong's appealThe Singapore Prison Service has published figures on judicial execution in its Annual Report for 2010 which can be found <a href="http://www.prisons.gov.sg/content/dam/sps/publications/Prisons_annual_2011_part4.pdf">here</a>.<br />
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While there were no executions last year, according to lawyer M. Ravi, who has taken several high profile drug trafficking cases involving convicts sentenced to the gallows, there are at least thirty prisoners on death row at Changi prison, and at least one has been executed in March this year. The man, who went by the name "Ah Hock" was singled out for hanging, for unknown reasons, and which has not been explained by the prison.<br />
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There are no official figures available on the number of people on death row following the unofficial stay of execution when Vui Kong first contested his conviction in the Supreme Court on December 2009.<br />
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<i>sgdeathpenalty</i>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-74924700265654184332011-05-01T12:28:00.001+08:002011-05-01T12:31:46.860+08:00Death in 6 paragraphs: Foong Chee Peng<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="txt-label"><i>The following is a High Court judgment on 28 April 2011, involving the appellant, 45 year old Singaporean Fong Chee Peng. He was sentenced to death </i></span><span class="txt-label"><i>after pleading guilty of possession of heroin for the intention of selling it.</i></span><span class="txt-label"><i> In a brief judgment, all of 6 paragraphs, </i></span><i><span class="txt-label">Justice Choo Han Teck sentenced him to the gallows. </span></i><br />
<b><span class="txt-label"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/legal/ln2/rss/judgment/12401.html"><span class="txt-label">Singapore Law Watch</span></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="txt-label">Judgment </span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="80%"><div class="Judg-Hearing-Date">28 April 2011</div><div class="Judg-Hearing-Date"><br />
</div></td><td><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="Judg-Author" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Choo Han Teck J:</b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">1 On 30 September 2009 at about 4.03pm, officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (“CNB”) broke down the door to a flat known as #01-04, Sunshine Grove at 2 Jalan Labu Merah. The flat had two bedrooms. The accused, Foong Chee Peng, was arrested in the master bedroom. His sister, Foong Siew Found, was arrested in the second bedroom. She was not charged for the drugs found in the flat. The accused was, however, charged for trafficking in 40.23g of diamorphine contained in thirty-six packets, two straws, and one container found in his room. The charge was preferred under s 5(1)(<i>a</i>) read with s 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed). It carries the death penalty under s 33 of the said Act.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">2 After the charge was read to the accused, he informed the court that he wished to plead guilty. I asked that the Prosecution proceed with the evidence, and marked the Prosecution’s Opening Address as an exhibit as the accused indicated that he accepted the case against him contained therein.</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">3 The CNB officers searched the master bedroom which was occupied by the accused and found the drugs which were the subject matter of the charge. Station Inspector Ng Tze Chiang Tony (“SI Ng”) (PW9) recorded a contemporaneous statement from the accused by communicating with him in Mandarin. This statement consisted of a series of questions and answers. SI Ng recorded the questions and answers in English and translated them into Mandarin save for the answer to question number 3 which the CNB interpreter, Wong Png Leong (PW22), subsequently translated. In this statement, the accused acknowledged that the substances seized were, <i>inter alia</i>, heroin (<i>viz</i>, diamorphine) and that they belonged to him for the purposes of sale to others.</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">4 The accused was also served with the Notice of Caution and a statement was recorded pursuant to s 122(6) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 1985 Rev Ed). He admitted that there was no threat, inducement or promise made to him when he stated in the s 122(6) statement that “the things belong to me and got nothing to do with my younger sister” [<i>sic</i>]. By “things” the accused must be referring to the drugs referred to in the charge that was read to him to which his cautioned statement was made in response.</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">5 The forensic officers testified to the nature and weight of the drugs seized and they conformed to the charge. Consequently, I called upon the accused to rebut the prosecution case. After the standard allocution was read to him, he informed the court that he elected to remain silent and had no evidence to adduce.</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="Judg-1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">6 Reviewing the evidence, I was satisfied that the prosecution had made out a case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and I thus found the accused guilty as charged and convicted him accordingly.</div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-72042643626307580772011-05-01T12:16:00.000+08:002011-05-01T12:16:15.156+08:00Malaysian woman to hang for 21.48g heroin<span class="itemImage"><a class="modal" href="http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/media/k2/items/cache/5c3e9c564ce5718c00c70e9bdfc8ef1b_XL.jpg" title="Click to preview image"> </a> </span> <br />
<div class="itemFullText"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0h8QBbn47tY/Tbzd8xVPZMI/AAAAAAAAARs/iUnzlc8B1WY/s1600/roshamima+roslan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0h8QBbn47tY/Tbzd8xVPZMI/AAAAAAAAARs/iUnzlc8B1WY/s200/roshamima+roslan.jpg" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Malaysian </em><em>Roshamima Roslan</em></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>A Malaysian couple who were due to get married drove into Singapore two years ago with 21.48g of heroin bundles in their car.<br />
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The pair were caught, charged and put on trial.<br />
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On Friday, the High Court acquitted Mas Swan Adnan, 27, but sent his fiancee Roshamima Roslan, 24, to the gallows for trafficking in 15g or more of the drug.<br />
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In his judgment yesterday, Justice Steven Chong said the prosecution had to prove that the two of them knew exactly what sort of drugs they were bringing into Singapore.<br />
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Justice Chong said the evidence showed, however, that Mas Swan believed his girlfriend when she told him that the bundles contained Ecstasy pills.<br />
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Roshamima's claim was not believable, the judge said, adding that the prosecution proved that she knew that illicit drugs were hidden in their car when they entered Singapore.<br />
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When Roshamima was put on the stand, she failed to give testimony that she believed the bundles to contain drugs other than heroin.<br />
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In fact, she gave all kinds of explanations when confronted with objective evidence such as text messages; four times, she changed her story of whom she and Mas Swan were supposed to meet the day they were caught.<br />
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Her fiance, on the other hand, had consistently stated in his police statements and in court that he believed the bundles contained Ecstasy pills that he was delivering for a Singaporean man known only as Mickey.<br />
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Justice Chong said Mas Swan came across as a 'mild-mannered and somewhat timid' person who followed Roshamima's instructions, and that she was the 'assertive and dominant personality'.<br />
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The court heard that Roshamima was a drug smuggler before he became one, and that it was she who co-opted him into the trafficking ring.<br />
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In short, she played a larger role in the delivery of drugs, noted Justice Chong.<br />
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Mas Swan was not immediately released from custody. Prosecutors told the court there would be a lapse of time before he can go free; it is not known how long this will be.<br />
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On the night of May 6, 2009, the couple had driven into Singapore through the Woodlands checkpoint.<br />
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When an immigration officer scanned Mas Swan's passport, he was immediately alerted to that name being on the blacklist.<br />
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The officer then directed Mas Swan to drive to an inspection pit, where a manual search of the interior and undercarriage of the car turned up nothing incriminating.<br />
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However, an X-ray scan detected three dark spots in the front left door panel. When the panel was opened, three bundles wrapped in tape were retrieved.<br />
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The couple were immediately arrested.<br />
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The contents of the bundles were later analysed and found to contain 21.48g of heroin.<br />
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Source: The Straits Times, 30 April 2011</div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-27064946289897581802011-04-30T16:43:00.001+08:002011-04-30T16:48:13.510+08:00Urgent Appeal to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (Yong Vui Kong)<b>Joint submission by Mr. M Ravi and Harm Reduction International, 28 April 2011</b><br />
<br />
<b>For <a href="http://savevuikong.blogspot.com/p/yong-vui-kongs-journey.html">Yong Vui Kong</a> (Full background story) </b> <br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u>I. Identity of the person concerned</u>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>1. Family name</i>: </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Yong</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>2. First name</i>: </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Vui Kong</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>3. Sex: _ male __ female</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Male</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>4. Birth date or age</i>: </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">19 January 1988 (23 years old)</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>5. Nationalit(ies</i>): </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Malaysian</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>6. Civil status (single, married, etc.):</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Single</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>8. Profession and/or activity (e.g. trade union, political, religious, humanitarian/solidarity/human rights, etc.) </i> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">N/A</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>9. Address of usual residence</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Originally from: Sandakan Malaysia</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Currently resides: <br />
Changi Prison</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">11 Jalan Awan </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Singapore</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>10. Is there a link to other cases/ persons? Please specify:</i></div><ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Singapore: (Urgent Appeal) Death sentence of Thiru Selvam, Communication from the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to the Government of Singapore, 18 July 2001 (E/CN.4/2002/74/Add.2)</div></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Singapore: (Urgent Appeal) Death sentences of Mohammed Afzal Khan and Mohammed Ali Hashim, Communication from the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to the Government of Singapore, 8 January 2002 (E/CN.4/2003/3/Add.1)</div></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Singapore: (Urgent Appeal) Death Sentence of Nguyen Tuong Van, Communication from the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to Singapore, 15 March 2005 (E/CN.4/2006/53/Add.1)</div></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Statement of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government of Singapore's planned execution of Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 25 January 2007 (HR/07/9)</div></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u>II. Information regarding the incident:</u></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>1. Date</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">On 14 November 2008 Mr. Yong was convicted by the High Court of a charge under s 5(1)(a) and punishable under s 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act – which prescribes a mandatory death penalty for certain categories of drug offences. The accused was convicted of trafficking in 47.27 grams of diamorphine and was sentenced to death. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>2. Place</i>: </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">1 Supreme Court Lane</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Singapore 178879</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>4. The nature of the incident: Please describe the circumstances of the incident, including the following categories</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(192, 192, 192);">X (a) death penalty, or fair trial guarantees, please detail (unfair laws or proceedings, charges, eventual appeals, execution is imminent, etc.)</span></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(b) imminent violation of the right to life is feared (death threats, imminent expulsion or refoulement leading to a life-threatening situation, etc.), please detail.</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(c) others (death in custody, death during an armed conflict, death due to excessive use of force by law enforcement officials, death due to attacks by security forces of State, paramilitary or private forces, breach of obligation to investigate, etc.): </i> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Yong Vui Kong grew up in extreme poverty and dropped out of school at just 11-years-old. He left home at 15-years-old to begin work in Kuala Lumpur as an apprentice cook and later sold digital video discs.<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote1sym" name="sdendnote1anc"><sup>i</sup></a></sup> It is alleged that shortly before his arrest he came into contact with someone who hired him to deliver goods from Malaysia to Singapore.<sup> <a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote2sym" name="sdendnote2anc"><sup>ii</sup></a></sup> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Mr. Yong was arrested at the age of 19-years-old and was accused of trafficking in slightly more than 47 grams of diamorphine between 12 June 2007 and 13 June 2007. Under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act – which prescribes a mandatory death penalty for certain categories of drug offences – Mr. Yong was convicted on 14 November 2008 and sentenced to death. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Neither his age nor personal circumstances could be taken into account in his sentencing due to Singapore’s mandatory death penalty policy. Such mandatory death sentences that cannot consider mitigating considerations have been criticised by the former UN Commission on Human Rights<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote3sym" name="sdendnote3anc"><sup>iii</sup></a></sup>, the UN Human Rights Committee<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote4sym" name="sdendnote4anc"><sup>iv</sup></a></sup>, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote5sym" name="sdendnote5anc"><sup>v</sup></a></sup> and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote6sym" name="sdendnote6anc"><sup>vi</sup></a></sup> as well as numerous national courts<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote7sym" name="sdendnote7anc"><sup>vii</sup></a></sup>. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions wrote of mandatory death sentences, ‘<i>The experience of numerous judicial and quasi-judicial bodies has demonstrated that mandatory death sentences are inherently over-inclusive and unavoidably violate human rights law. The categorical distinctions that may be drawn between offences in the criminal law are not sufficient to reflect the full range of factors relevant to determining whether a death sentence would be permissible in a capital case. In such cases, individualized sentencing by the judiciary is required in order to prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and the arbitrary deprivation of life</i>.’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote8sym" name="sdendnote8anc"><sup>viii</sup></a></sup></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Furthermore, it has long been established that drug offences do not reach the standard of ‘most serious crimes’ as articulated by United Nations human rights bodies. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">International bodies have devoted considerable attention to limitations placed on the lawful application of the death penalty. According to decisions by human rights monitors, scholars and international jurisprudence, capital drug laws are at odds with the right to life as articulated by Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that the death penalty may only be applied for what the treaty terms ‘most serious crimes’. This has been affirmed by:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote9sym" name="sdendnote9anc"><sup>ix</sup></a></sup> </div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">UN Office on Drugs and Crime<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote10sym" name="sdendnote10anc"><sup>x</sup></a></sup></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">UN Human Rights Committee, the body of independent experts mandated with monitoring the implementation and interpretation of the ICCPR<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote11sym" name="sdendnote11anc"><sup>xi</sup></a></sup> </div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote12sym" name="sdendnote12anc"><sup>xii</sup></a></sup> </div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote13sym" name="sdendnote13anc"><sup>xiii</sup></a></sup></div></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Singapore is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights yet this principle has been endorsed by UN political bodies in a 1984 resolution of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), which upheld nine safeguards on the application of the death penalty, affirming that capital punishment should be used ‘only for the most serious crimes.’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote14sym" name="sdendnote14anc"><sup>xiv</sup></a></sup> This resolution which held that such offences were limited to those ‘with lethal or other extremely grave consequences’ was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote15sym" name="sdendnote15anc"><sup>xv</sup></a></sup>.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has similarly affirmed, ‘As an entity of the United Nations system, UNODC advocates the abolition of the death penalty and calls upon Member States to follow international standards concerning prohibition of the death penalty for offences of a drug-related or purely economic nature.’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote16sym" name="sdendnote16anc"><sup>xvi</sup></a></sup></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Furthermore, there are numerous fair trial concerns associated with presumptions of guilt that are included in the Misuse of Drugs Act. It has been pointed out on numerous occasions<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote17sym" name="sdendnote17anc"><sup>xvii</sup></a></sup> – including by the office of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – that this presumption ‘shifts the burden of proof to the accused, does not provide sufficient guarantees for the presumption of innocence and may lead to violations of the right to life when the crime of drug trafficking carries a mandatory death sentence.’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote18sym" name="sdendnote18anc"><sup>xviii</sup></a></sup></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">This presumption raises numerous concerns that procedural safeguards are not protected -- which in capital trials is ‘without a doubt a norm of customary law (or a general principle of law).’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote19sym" name="sdendnote19anc"><sup>xix</sup></a></sup> The Human Rights Committee wrote in 1982 that the protections articulated in Article 14 of the Covenant are built into Article 6, ‘including the right to a fair hearing by an independent tribunal, the presumption of innocence, the minimum guarantees for the defence, and the right to review by a higher tribunal. These rights are applicable in addition to the particular right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote20sym" name="sdendnote20anc"><sup>xx</sup></a></sup> In addition, Safeguard No. 5 of the General Assembly-endorsed 1984 ECOSOC resolution states:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.59in; margin-right: 0.39in;">Capital punishment may only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court after legal process which gives all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial, at least equal to those contained in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the right of anyone suspected of or charged with a crime for which capital punishment may be imposed to adequate legal assistance at all stages of the proceedings.<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote21sym" name="sdendnote21anc"><sup>xxi</sup></a></sup></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">These concerns have been raised by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in the past.<sup> <a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote22sym" name="sdendnote22anc"><sup>xxii</sup></a></sup> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u>III. Forces believed to be responsible for the incident:</u></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(a) if the perpetrators are believed to be State agents, please specify (military, police, persons in uniform or civilian clothes, agents of security services, unit to which they belong, rank and functions, etc.) and indicate why they are believed to be responsible; be as precise as possible</i>: </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(b) if an identification as State agents is not possible, why do you believe that Government authorities, or persons linked to them, are responsible for the incident?</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(c) if there are witnesses to the incident, indicate their names. If they wish to remain anonymous, indicate if they are relatives, by-passers, etc.; if there is evidence, please specify</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">This sentence was passed by the High Court and upheld by the Court of Appeals and is due to be carried out by government authorities.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u>IV. Steps taken by the victim or his/her family</u>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(a) Indicate if complaints have been filed, when, by whom, and before which organ</i>.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(b) Other steps taken</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">All domestic remedies have been exhausted. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">On 14 November 2008 a mandatory death sentence was passed against Yong Vui Kong. An appeal was filed but then withdrawn. On 11 August 2009 Mr. Yong petitioned the president for clemency which was rejected on the 20 November 2009. Just four days before his sentence was to be carried out, Mr. Yong through his current attorney M Ravi, filed a criminal motion for leave to pursue his appeal at the Court of Appeal based on the argument that the sentence was unconstitutional. The application was granted on 8 December 2009 though the appeal was dismissed on 14 March 2010.<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote23sym" name="sdendnote23anc"><sup>xxiii</sup></a></sup> Shortly before the decision was made public, published comments attributed to the Law Minister defended the mandatory death penalty for drugs and warned that if drug lords are under the impression that young and vulnerable traffickers will be spared then they will be more inclined to use them as mules – adding, ‘Then you’ll get 10 more. There’ll be an unstoppable stream of such people coming through as long as we say we won’t enforce our laws.’<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote24sym" name="sdendnote24anc"><sup>xxiv</sup></a></sup> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">A final appeal was submitted based on several arguments including that by law it is the President ‘who has the power to decide whether or not to grant any fresh clemency petition which the Appellant might file’ and that ‘Law Minister’s conduct had irreversibly tainted the clemency process in respect of the Appellant with apparent bias, and the Appellant was entitled to be pardoned on account thereof or was, alternatively, entitled not to be deprived of his life’. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">This appeal was rejected on 4 April 2011. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u>V. Steps taken by the authorities</u>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(a) Indicate whether or not there have been investigations by the State authorities; if so, what kind of investigations? Progress and status of these investigations; which other measures have been taken (e.g. autopsy)?</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>(b) in case of complaints by the victim or its family, how have the organs dealt with them? What is the outcome of those proceedings?</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The government has agreed to hear several appeals on behalf of Yong Vui Kong, which have been filed on his behalf by attorney M Ravi. However, at no point has the government reconsidered its policy of enforcing the mandatory death penalty for drugs. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u> VI. Identity of the person submitting the case</u></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">(Joint Submission of Harm Reduction International and M. Ravi) </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><u>Person 1:</u></i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>1. Family name</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Gallahue</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>2. First name(s</i>): </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Patrick</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>3. Status: individual, group, non-governmental organization, inter-governmental agency, Government. Please specify</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Non-governmental organisation: Harm Reduction International. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>4. Address (telephone, fax, e-mail):</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Harm Reduction International</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Unit 701 - The Chandlery</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">50 Westminster Bridge Road</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">London</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">United Kingdom - SE1 7QY</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="mailto:patrick.gallahue@ihra.net">patrick.gallahue@ihra.net</a></u></span> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Fax: +44 (0) 207 953 7404 </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Phone: +44 (0) 207 953 7650</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>5. Please state whether you want your identity to be kept confidential</i>: </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">No</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Date:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">27 April 2011 </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Signature of author:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Patrick Gallahue</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><u>Person 2</u></i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>1. Family name</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Mr. M. Ravi</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>3. Status: individual, group, non-governmental organization, inter-governmental agency, Government. Please specify</i>:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Attorney </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>4. Address (telephone, fax, e-mail):</i></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">L.F. Violet Netto</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">101, Upper Cross Street, Peoples' Park Centre,</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">05-13, Singapore 058357</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Email: mravilaw1@gmail.com</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Fax: 65- 65324301</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tel: 65- 65337433 </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Date:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">27 April 2011 </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Signature of author:</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">M.Ravi</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div id="sdendnote1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote1anc" name="sdendnote1sym">i</a> See for example: Al Jazeera (26 January 2011) 'Yong's Story: The case of a young Malaysian convicted for drug trafficking tests Singapore's capital punishment laws'; or Save Vui Kong at http://savevuikong.blogspot.com/p/yong-vui-kongs-journey.html</div></div><div id="sdendnote2" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote2anc" name="sdendnote2sym">ii</a> See Yong Vui Kong. v. Public Prosecutor, Criminal Appeal 13 of 2008, Respondent's Arguments (For hearing: 15 March 2010)</div></div><div id="sdendnote3" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote3anc" name="sdendnote3sym">iii</a> UN Commission on Human Rights (20 April 2005) Human Rights Resolution 2005/59, para. 6</div></div><div id="sdendnote4" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote4anc" name="sdendnote4sym">iv</a> UN Human Rights Committee (26 March 2002) Kennedy v. Trinidad and Tobago Communication No. 845/1998. CCPR/C/74/D/845/1998, para. 7.3.; UN Human Rights Committee (18 October 2000) Thompson v. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Communication No. 806/1998. CCPR/C/70D/806/1998, para. 8; UN Human Rights Committee (1995) Lubuto v. Zambia Communication No. 390/1990.</div></div><div id="sdendnote5" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote5anc" name="sdendnote5sym">v</a> UN Human Rights Council, <i>UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions</i>, 29 January 2007, A/HRC/4/20, paras. 54-59</div></div><div id="sdendnote6" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote6anc" name="sdendnote6sym">vi</a> Hilaire, Constantine, Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago Inter-American Court of Human Rights Series C No. 94 (21 June 2002)</div></div><div id="sdendnote7" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote7anc" name="sdendnote7sym">vii</a> Privy Council Appeal No. 44 of 2005 (1) Forrester Bowe (Junior) (2) Trono Davis v. The Queen, The Court of Appeal of the Bahamas (8 March 2006) para. 29(3); Attorney General v. Susan Kigula and 417 Others No. 03 of 2006, Uganda: S. Ct (21 January 2009); Amnesty International (22 January 2009) Mandatory death penalty ruled unconstitutional in Uganda; Kafantayeni v. Attorney General, Constitutional Case No. 12 of 2005 [2007] MWHC 1; Bernard Coard and others v. The Attorney General of Grenada UKPC7 (2007).</div></div><div id="sdendnote8" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote8anc" name="sdendnote8sym">viii</a> Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Civil and Political rights, Including the Questions of Disappearences and Summary Executions, A/HRC/4/20, 29 January 2007</div></div><div id="sdendnote9" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote9anc" name="sdendnote9sym">ix</a> UN Commission on Human Rights, Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report by the Special Rapporteur, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1996/74, 24 December 1996, E/CN.4/1997/60; UN Human Rights Council (29 January 2007) Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. A/HRC/4/20, para. 51-52; UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Addendum : Communications to and from Governments, 18 June 2010, A/HRC/14/24/Add.1, pp. 45-46.</div></div><div id="sdendnote10" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote10anc" name="sdendnote10sym">x</a> UNODC (2010) Drug control, crime prevention and criminal justice: A human rights perspective. Note by the Executive Director (Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Fifty-third session, Vienna, 8–12 March), UN Doc. E/CN.7/2010/CRP.6*–E/CN.15/2010/CRP.1*.</div></div><div id="sdendnote11" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote11anc" name="sdendnote11sym">xi</a> UN Human Rights Committee (8 July 2005), Concluding observations: Thailand. CCPR/CO/84/THA, para. 14; Human Rights Committee (29 August 2007) Concluding observations: Sudan. CCPR/C/SDN/CO/3, para. 19.</div></div><div id="sdendnote12" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote12anc" name="sdendnote12sym">xii</a> UN Human Rights Council (14 January 2009) Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. A/HRC/10/44, para. 66.</div></div><div id="sdendnote13" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote13anc" name="sdendnote13sym">xiii</a> UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, A/65/255 (6 August 2010) para. 17</div></div><div id="sdendnote14" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote14anc" name="sdendnote14sym">xiv</a> ECOSOC (25 May 1984) Implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. Resolution 1984/50.</div></div><div id="sdendnote15" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote15anc" name="sdendnote15sym">xv</a> UN General Assembly (14 December 1984) Human rights in the administration of justice. Resolution A/RES/39/118.</div></div><div id="sdendnote16" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote16anc" name="sdendnote16sym">xvi</a> UNODC (2010) Drug control, crime prevention and criminal justice: A human rights perspective. Note by the Executive Director (Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Fifty-third session, Vienna, 8–12 March), UN Doc. E/CN.7/2010/CRP.6*–E/CN.15/2010/CRP.1*.</div></div><div id="sdendnote17" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote17anc" name="sdendnote17sym">xvii</a> Amnesty International (15 January 2004) Singapore: The Death Penalty – A Hidden Toll of Executions. ASA 36/001/2004</div></div><div id="sdendnote18" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote18anc" name="sdendnote18sym">xviii</a> Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1996/74, E/CN.4/1997/60/Add.1, para. 438</div></div><div id="sdendnote19" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote19anc" name="sdendnote19sym">xix</a> W Schabas, ‘International law and the death penalty: reflecting or promoting change’, in P Hodgkinson and W Schabas (eds), ‘Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition’, (2<sup>nd</sup> edn Cambridge University Press 2004) p. 53.</div></div><div id="sdendnote20" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote20anc" name="sdendnote20sym">xx</a> General Comment No. 06 (Sixteenth Session): The right to life (art. 6) (30 April 1982); W Schabas, ‘International law and the death penalty:reflecting or promoting change’, in P Hodgkinson and W Schabas (eds), ‘Capital Punishment: Strategies for Abolition’, (2<sup>nd</sup> edn Cambridge University Press 2004) p. 56.</div></div><div id="sdendnote21" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote21anc" name="sdendnote21sym">xxi</a> ECOSOC (25 May 1984) Implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. Resolution 1984/50.</div></div><div id="sdendnote22" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote22anc" name="sdendnote22sym">xxii</a> Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1996/74, E/CN.4/1997/60/Add.1, para. 438</div></div><div id="sdendnote23" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote23anc" name="sdendnote23sym">xxiii</a> Civil Appeal No 144 of 2010 Yong Vui Kong v Attorney-General, Summary of the judgment of Chan Sek Keong CJ, 4 April 2011. For further discussion of the decision, see: Y. McDermott, 'Yong Vui Kong v. Public Prosecutor and the Mandatory Death Penalty for Drug Offences in Singapore: A Dead End for Constitutional Challenge?' (2010) 1 International Journal on Human Rights and Drug Policy 35</div></div><div id="sdendnote24" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div class="sdendnote"><a class="sdendnotesym" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7980499113043218220#sdendnote24anc" name="sdendnote24sym">xxiv</a> Civil Appeal No 144 of 2010 Yong Vui Kong v Attorney-General, Summary of the judgment of Chan Sek Keong CJ, 4 April 2011.</div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-22476276132746716612011-04-19T22:54:00.000+08:002011-04-19T22:54:25.213+08:00ST: Murder conviction for seafood boss overturned<div class="sthead" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><h3 class="date_story" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #24718c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 3px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Apr 12, 2011</h3><h1 class="storyheadline" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_655852.html">Murder conviction for seafood boss overturned</a></span></h1><div class="byline" style="color: #24718c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal;">By Selina Lum</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110412/ST_19764883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="stimage" height="320" src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110412/ST_19764883.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(200, 193, 173); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(200, 193, 173); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(200, 193, 173); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(200, 193, 173); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-top: 9px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px;" width="209" /></a></div><div class="byline" style="color: #24718c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</div></div><div class="ststory_large" style="float: left; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; width: 625px;"></div>Eu Lim Hoklai, 57, had been given the mandatory death penalty by the High Court in 2009 for killing Madam Yu Hongjin on June 18, 2006.A SEAFOOD stall boss escaped the gallows on Tuesday when the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for murdering his China mistress in the Ang Mo Kio massage parlour she ran.<br />
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Justice V. K. Rajah, delivering the decision of the three-judge court in Eu's appeal against his conviction, said that it was unsafe to conclude that this was a case of murder in cold blood.<br />
<br />
Rather it appears to have been a death caused in the heat of the moment, said the judge, convicting him of a lesser charge of culpable homicide, which carries up to 10 years' jail or life imprisonment. Eu had gone to meet Madam Yu that day - Father's Day - but the meeting turned violent. Madam Yu died from strangulation and two stab wounds. Eu suffered wounds that damaged no major organs.<br />
<br />
The prosecution's case was that Eu had strangled Madam Yu after she was stabbed twice and helpless. But Eu said Madam Yu stabbed him first and he retaliated. On Tuesday, Justice V. K. Rajah - delivering the Court of Appeal's decision - said it was plausible that some of Eu's wounds could have been inflicted by Madam Yu.<br />
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It was likely that a struggle took place in the massage parlour although it is not clear who struck the first blow, he said. The benefit of the doubt has to be given to the accused in such 'difficult' cases, said Justice Rajah.The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-15451988282815627262011-04-19T22:49:00.002+08:002011-04-19T22:49:20.051+08:00CNA: Man charged with trolley bag murder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">SINGAPORE: A 44-year-old executive was charged on Monday with the murder of a 28-year-old man whose body was found in a trolley bag at Sentosa.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Teo Boon Leng allegedly killed Wong Teck Siong in a unit at the Caribbean condominium at Keppel Bay Drive between April 1 and 16.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Police said officers received a call about the case at 8.40am on Saturday, April 16.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">The bag was floating near the shore in the waters off the Sentosa Gate construction site and it contained Mr Wong's decomposed body.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Officers conducted their investigations and arrested Teo on Sunday afternoon.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Teo is now in remand at the Central Police Division and will be back in court on Monday, April 25.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">If convicted of murder, he will face the death penalty.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">-CNA/ac</span>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-74357471912556114152011-04-19T00:17:00.003+08:002011-04-19T00:22:06.760+08:00SADPC - Statement regarding Khor Soon Lee's appeal and an appeal for Cheong Chun Yin<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">18 April 2011 </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">On Saturday, 16 April 2011, we received news that Singapore’s Court of Appeal had overturned the death sentence of <a href="http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/legal/ln2/rss/legalnews/71549.html?utm_source=rss%20subscription&utm_medium=rss">Khor Soon Lee</a>, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2009. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">According to the information reported by the press, Khor who was arrested on 9 August 2008 at Woodlands Immigration Checkpoint, was not aware that he was carrying heroine although he knew that he was carrying other drugs. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">It is encouraging to hear the decision of the Court and we hope that this will not be the only case whereby other factors are taken into due consideration before a convict gets sentenced to death or before an appeal gets dismissed.</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">We appeal to the Court of Appeal to apply similar practice on other cases. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Scan032611_105911-235x300.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Scan032611_105911-235x300.png" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheong Chun Yin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>One example is the case of another Malaysian by the name of Cheong Chun Yin who was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death in February 2010. In his statement and during the court proceedings, Cheong told the Court that he believed that he had been smuggling gold bars from Burma instead of heroin. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">If the Court of Appeal was able to look through the evidence to decide that Khor had no knowledge that he was carrying heroin in his appeal, they should also be able to do the same for Cheong. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">Unfortunately Cheong’s case has progressed to the last stage. He is now waiting for the President’s reply to the clemency petition that was submitted at the beginning of the year. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">As time is running out, we urgently urge the authorities of Singapore to look into Cheong’s case once again and allow him one last appeal, putting into consideration the fact that he claimed no knowledge of smuggling the drug into our shores at all. </div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">Afterall, the purpose of the legal process is to avoid punishing the innocent, and I am sure that we do not want to send an innocent man to the gallows for a crime that he did not intend to commit.</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal">Thank you.</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Zeng</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign</span><a href="mailto:sgdeathpenalty@gmail.com"><br />
sgdeathpenalty@gmail.com</a></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-60381115964742873512011-04-13T20:47:00.000+08:002011-04-13T20:47:05.396+08:00Second Chances: A re-trial for Cheong Chun Yin<h1 class="post_name" id="post-266" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #111111; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 2em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.04em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: normal;"><h1 class="post_name" id="post-266" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #111111; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 2em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.04em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Second Chances: A re-trial for Cheong Chun Yin.</h1><div class="post_meta" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.4em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.3em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">POSTED BY <a href="http://webelieveinsecondchances.wordpress.com/author/webelieveinsecondchances/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3a6999; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Posts by Second Chances">SECOND CHANCES</a> <span class="dot" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode', 'arial unicode ms', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">⋅</span> APRIL 13, 2011 <span class="dot" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode', 'arial unicode ms', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">⋅</span> <a href="http://webelieveinsecondchances.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/a-re-trial-for-cheong-chun-yin/#respond" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3a6999; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Comment on A re-trial for Cheong Chun Yin.">LEAVE A COMMENT</a></div><div class="post_meta" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.4em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.3em; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="post_text" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.9em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="400" height="255" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SckDdmI6PPk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The above video was shot at the press conference called by the Save Vui Kong Campaign last weekend in Kuala Lumpur to highlight the case of Cheong Chun Yin, a Malaysian from Johor Bahru on death row in Singapore.</em></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://webelieveinsecondchances.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/scan032611_105911.png" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3a6999; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-258" height="300" src="http://webelieveinsecondchances.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/scan032611_105911.png?w=235&h=300" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 14px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 750px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Cheong Chun Yin" width="235" /></a>In June 2008, Chun Yin arrived in Singapore’s Changi Airport. He had just come from Myanmar. He was carrying a black suitcase, which he believed contained gold bars that he was smuggling for a friend, who wanted to evade tax. He handed the bag over to a woman at the airport before leaving.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Chun Yin was later arrested while alighting from a taxi in Arab Street. He did not have the suitcase on him. He was then taken to a flat where the suitcase was found. The “gold bars” that he thought had been hidden in the lining turned out to be about 2.7kg of heroin.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">During his interrogation, Chun Yin cooperated with the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers and gave them the name, physical description and phone numbers of his contact, a man who had gone by the name of “Lau De”. However, the CNB did not make any effort to investigate.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Chun Yin was convicted and sentenced to death (under the Mandatory Death Penalty stipulated in the Misuse of Drugs Act) by High Court Judge Choo Han Teck. In his written judgement, Judge Choo stated, “It was immaterial that the CNB did not make adequate efforts to trace ‘Lau De’ or check on his cell-phones.”</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict in October 2010.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Till this day, Chun Yin insists that he had believed he was carrying gold bars. He did not cut open the lining of the bag as he did not want to be held responsible should anything have gone missing.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">If the CNB had attempted to trace “Lau De”, they could have corroborated Chun Yin’s story, and possibly even traced and arrested the whole network, thus cutting off the drug supply at the source. However, the CNB made no effort to do so.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Since it is a matter of life and death, and since the death penalty is <strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">irreversible</em></strong>, Second Chances urges the Singapore government to grant Chun Yin a stay of execution, and to look into his case again. Every effort should be made to <em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">thoroughly </em>investigate a case before a sentence is handed down. We cannot afford to get it wrong, because we will never be able to bring a person back to life after he/she has been executed.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Please give Chun Yin a second chance to have his case examined, and all the evidence checked and investigated.</strong></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To support the campaign for Chun Yin’s case to be reopened, please <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/chunyin/petition.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3a6999; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">sign the petition</a>, and ‘like’ the Facebook page <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Justice4ChunYin" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3a6999; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></div></div></span></h1>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-654963285291321692011-04-05T19:45:00.007+08:002011-04-05T21:19:12.833+08:00New edition of Alan Shadrake's Once a Jolly Hangman to be launched<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgGr6meEfaw/TERqqMQ5xsI/AAAAAAAAALY/kqMCvX2802Y/s1600/hang-200x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgGr6meEfaw/TERqqMQ5xsI/AAAAAAAAALY/kqMCvX2802Y/s200/hang-200x0.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>According to British author Alan Shadrake, the new edition of his controversial book Once a Jolly Hangman has been published in Australia, UK and Malaysia, and will be "launched almost simultaneously in these countries".<br />
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The new edition will exclude sections which have been ruled by Singapore High Court as scandalising and tarnishing the reputation of the Singapore judiciary. Despite so, Shadrake promised that the book will be as "hard-hitting" as the first edition and "devastatingly accurate".<br />
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The book will also be updated to reflect current developments in capital punishment cases in Singapore, such as the ongoing case involving the judicial review appeal of Malaysian drug mule Yong Vui Kong.<br />
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Earlier this year, several youths were hauled in for investigation by the Singapore Police Folice for the alleged selling of the print edition of Jolly Hangman, which authorities claimed has not been banned, but in an apparent act of contradiction sent letters demanding bookstores to withdraw the book from their shelves, which they promptly acceded to.<br />
<br />
The unannounced ban on the sale of the book has also stroked curiosity and shored up demand which propelled it to <a href="http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4274-how-to-propel-a-book-to-bestseller-status">bestseller status</a> last year with 4 print runs in 5 months.<br />
<br />
Singapore, which has the toughest capital punishment laws in the region, continues to arbitrarily apply the death sentence to convicts and defy international trend for abolishment. In its most recent ruling, the High Court <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/04/court-of-appeal-yong-vui-kong%E2%80%99s-case-has-no-merit/">announced</a> that the Singapore President has no powers to grant clemencies to death row convicts unless explicitly instructed by the Cabinet.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ETPfe9OtszA/TZr84u9yiaI/AAAAAAAAARo/iQEmXxCStQo/s1600/nathan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ETPfe9OtszA/TZr84u9yiaI/AAAAAAAAARo/iQEmXxCStQo/s200/nathan.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ceremonial head of State, SR Nathan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As such, the Clemency Petition looks set to be a redundant process for all future clemency appeals to the current President, S.R. Nathan.<br />
<br />
After an uncontested victory in 1999 where he was hand-picked by the authoritarian regime to assume the position, the President has never granted a single Clemency Petition in his 12 years as ceremonial head of State. Last year, he launched his book aptly entitled "<i><a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1052916/1/.html">Why Am I Here?</a></i>", describing his earlier years as a maritime trade union labour officer.<br />
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Officially the <a href="http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110311-0000251/Parliament-approves-increase-in-Presidents-salary,-expenditure">highest paid</a> political figure in the world with an annual public-funded salary of US$3.4 million, the President certainly makes no disguise of the redundancy of his existence in public service.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b></b>As President S.R. Nathan has asked the question of his existence, we would also like to ask the same: <b><i>Why is the President here? </i></b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<i>sgdeathpenalty</i>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-34107890168921658732011-04-05T18:58:00.000+08:002011-04-05T18:58:33.298+08:00JOINT STATEMENT BY THINK CENTRE AND SINGAPORE ANTI-DEATH PENALTY CAMPAIGN ON YONG VUI KONG’S APPEAL VERDICT<a href="http://rachelzeng.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/sadpc_logo.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://rachelzeng.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/sadpc_logo.png?w=200&h=200" /></a><br />
The Think Centre and the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign find the verdict announced by Singapore’s Court of Appeal highly disappointing. We also find it daunting that the President of Singapore has no apparent right to decide against the advice of the Cabinet regarding the granting of clemency appeals.<br />
<br />
There is no value in the state execution of Yong Vui Kong. The reason that there are still drug mules carrying drugs into our country proves that the Mandatory Death Penalty (MDP) has failed to serve as a deterrent. While drug mules are being hanged, the masterminds of such drug syndicates get away scot free.<br />
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The government of Singapore actively advocates for chances to be given to former convicts and to help them rejoin the society under the Yellow Ribbon Project. We do not see how it cannot be extended to Vui Kong and the rest of the drug mules who are mostly marginalised youths who were led astray.<br />
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The Singapore government should listen to the call from its young citizens and the people in the world who are moving towards more humane ways to deal with non-violent crimes rather than imposing mandatory death penalty for drug mules. The UN General Assembly has called on member states to establish a moratorium on executions as a step towards the abolition of the death penalty. A total of 109 countries voted in favour of the resolution, while 35 countries voted against and 41 abstained. (UNGA 21 December 2010).<br />
<br />
We call on the government to declare an immediate moratorium on all death sentences and to commute Yong Vui Kong’s sentence.<br />
<br />
Contact Persons:<br />
Sinapan Samydorai (Think Centre)<br />
thinkcentre@hotmail.com<br />
<a href="http://www.thinkcentre.org/">http://www.thinkcentre.org</a><br />
<br />
Rachel Zeng (SADPC)<br />
<a href="mailto:sgdeathpenalty@gmail.com">sgdeathpenalty@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="http://sgdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/">http://sgdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/</a>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-1371891434195536762011-04-03T23:02:00.000+08:002011-04-03T23:02:52.458+08:00Vui Kong's appeal verdict at 3pm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://rachelzeng.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/yongvuikong2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://rachelzeng.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/yongvuikong2.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>It has been such an emotional journey for the campaigners on the legal front and on the ground, both in Singapore and Malaysia. Tomorrow, the Court of Appeal in Singapore shall deliver their final verdict at 3pm (Monday). Please come in solidarity if you can, for Vui Kong, his family and his legal counsel M Ravi, who has been working tirelessly for the last two years.<br />
<br />
We want Vui Kong to live, we have been campaigning for it since we heard about the case. Groups came together in unity for this campaign and we grew together as we worked together.<br />
<br />
I hope that Vui Kong will be able to hold his mother’s hand, converse and laugh with his siblings and pursue his work in his newfound faith, without the confines of bars and glass panels. May he touch the grass again, free from the noose.<br />
<br />
Vui Kong, we are with you. Please stay alive.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rachelzeng.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/yong-vui-kongs-final-verdict/">Rachel Zeng</a>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-44652071389468330802011-04-03T16:17:00.000+08:002011-04-03T16:17:52.423+08:00Second Chances: Help us raise money for Atiqah!<b>From <a href="http://webelieveinsecondchances.blogspot.com/2011/04/help-us-raise-money-for-atiqah.html">Second Chances</a></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-irRsTJmwjR4/TZgYd5FFATI/AAAAAAAAACM/mo-d-VVuDWM/s640/flea.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-irRsTJmwjR4/TZgYd5FFATI/AAAAAAAAACM/mo-d-VVuDWM/s400/flea.png" width="321" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In March 2011, Atiqah was sentenced to death by Shah Alam's High Court. You can read her story</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://sgdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2011/03/iqahs-story-single-mum-who-became.html" style="color: #e3a327; text-decoration: none;">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Atiqah's family believe that she is innocent, and are now campaigning to raise funds to get a second legal opinion as well as to raise awareness of her case. You can read their blog</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://saveatiqah.blogspot.com/" style="color: #e3a327; text-decoration: none;">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">After hearing of Atiqah's case, we at Second Chances would also like to do what we can to support her and her family. Thus, to help raise money for the Save Atiqah campaign, we are joining the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://sunday-eclectica.tumblr.com/" style="color: #e3a327; text-decoration: none;">Sunday Eclectica</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">flea market at</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://thepigeonhole.com.sg/" style="color: #e3a327; text-decoration: none;">The Pigeonhole</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> on Sunday, 10 April.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">We'll be bringing you more updates about what you will be able to find at our stalls this week, so watch this space!</span>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-44969458285859623762011-03-31T22:11:00.000+08:002011-03-31T22:11:30.455+08:00“Why would he go to his death so willingly?” – Father of man on death row<div class="postmeta left" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 600px;">The Online Citizen: <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/life-will-have-no-meaning-for-me-if-i-were-left-alone/">"Why would he go to his death so willingly?" <br />
- Father of man on death row</a><br />
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<span class="left" style="color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">Posted by <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/author/theonlinecitizen/" style="color: #222222; text-decoration: none;" title="Posts by theonlinecitizen">theonlinecitizen</a> on March 29, 2011</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="clear" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #222222; display: block; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 17px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;"></div><div class="entry" style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 15px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/life-will-have-no-meaning-for-me-if-i-were-left-alone/cheung/" rel="attachment wp-att-34769" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-34769" height="233" src="http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/cheung.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="cheung" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">Kirsten Han</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“My son loves to help people,” Cheong Kah Pin tells The Online Citizen.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In fact, he believes that it is this willingness to help others that has led his son Cheong Chun Yin to where he is today – on death row in Changi Prison.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On 16 June 2008, 24-year-old Cheong Chun Yin (known to his family as “Ah Yan”) was arrested as he was getting off a taxi on Arab Street. He, together with 55-year-old Malaysian Pang Siew Fum, was charged for drug trafficking.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A suitcase that Cheong had passed to Pang at Changi Airport was found to contain 2.726kg of heroin hidden in a false bottom.</div><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: whitesmoke; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Times, serif; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 15px;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Under Schedule 2 of the <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/03/presume-presumption-deemed-and-we-take-your-life/" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;" title="Misuse of Drugs Act (Singapore)">Misuse of Drugs Act</a>, any person found in possession of more than 2 grammes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;">heroin</a> receives a mandatory death sentence. Under the Mandatory Death Penalty, the judge does not have the power and the duty to take into account the personal circumstances of the offender.</div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Both Cheong and Pang were found guilty and sentenced to death under the mandatory death penalty in February 2010.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">Smuggling gold bars</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In his statement and throughout court proceedings, Cheong insisted that he believed that he had been smuggling gold bars into Singapore from Myanmar.</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_34768" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f7f7f7; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 245px;"><a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/life-will-have-no-meaning-for-me-if-i-were-left-alone/scan032611_105911/" rel="attachment wp-att-34768" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-34768" height="300" src="http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Scan032611_105911-235x300.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Scan032611_105911" width="235" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheong Chun Yin</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">While running a DVD stall at the pasar malam in Johor he got to know an old man known as “Lau De”. “Lau De” told him that he was in the business of smuggling gold. Cheong said that he did not believe him at first, but did later when he met a man who claimed to have had just returned from a gold smuggling trip, and was decked out in gold jewellery.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“Lau De” offered to pay Cheong RM8000, with US$500 as pocket money for the trip to Myanmar, if he would carry the gold bars to someone in Singapore. Cheong, believing that it would not be difficult, agreed.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">While in Myanmar, Cheong was given a black suitcase to bring in to Singapore. He said that although he did not see the gold, he felt the sides of the suitcase and got the impression that there was something hard hidden on each side. He thus assumed that the gold bars had been hidden in the lining of the suitcase.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheong carried the suitcase into Singapore through Changi Airport, handing it over to Pang Siew Fum in Terminal 2. He was later arrested and taken to Pang’s flat, where it was revealed that it was heroin, and not gold, that had been hidden in the lining of the suitcase.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“He did not know it was drugs,” says his father. “If we knew it was drugs, I would not have let him go. We know the penalty. Why would he go to his death so willingly?”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">No financial difficulties</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheong Kah Pin says his son was not having any financial difficulties. Between the two of them, they had been making more than enough money to get by.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">After divorcing his wife, Cheong Kah Pin had also sold two houses – one in Johor and another in Ipoh. He and his ex-wife split the money, and the profit made was enough for him to purchase a new house for him and his son.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“Why would he want to traffic drugs?” he asks. “We have enough money of our own.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In his statement to the police, Cheong said that he had agreed to smuggle gold bars because “I wanted to make more money so that I can save it up for my marriage with my girlfriend”.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He claims that he had been persuaded by “Lau De” to smuggle gold from Myanmar, and that if caught, there would only be a fine that “Lau De” would pay for. He therefore believed that it would be a relatively small risk to take.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">Always happy, but too gullible</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheong’s parents divorced in 2002, and his other three younger siblings – two sisters and a brother – went to live with their mother. He was the only child who remained with his father, and they set up a stall at the pasar malam together. After completing secondary school, he decided to help his father with the business full-time.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">According to Cheong Kah Pin, his son had never mixed around with a bad crowd, preferring to return home to play computer games instead. Cheong has always had a cheerful disposition, and is incredibly willing to trust and help others.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“Oftentimes he would lend money to his friends, and they wouldn’t pay him back,” says Cheong Kah Pin. “But he would still help them if they asked.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He tells us that even on death row, Cheong is eager to help others. “He asks me to bring music CDs when I visit him, so he can give them to the other death row inmates.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He believes that it is his son’s gullible nature that led him to befriend and trust the people who talked him into going to Myanmar to smuggle gold bars. “He would never have knowingly trafficked drugs. He was just too eager to help people.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">Lack of search for “Lau De” deemed “immaterial”</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">While being questioned, Cheong repeatedly asserted that he had had no idea that the suitcase contained heroin. He also gave the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers the telephone numbers of “Lau De”.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, he claims that they had done “absolutely nothing” to trace the whereabouts of this “Lau De”.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In his written judgements of the case, Judge Choo Han Teck stated that the evidence given by Cheong “did not create any reasonable doubt in my mind that he might not have known that he was carrying heroin.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He also said that “[i]t was immaterial that the CNB did not make adequate efforts to trace ‘Lau De’ or check on his cell-phones. The absence of any trace of ‘Lau De’… was not taken as evidence in favour of or against either accused.”</div><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: whitesmoke; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Times, serif; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 15px;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, any person found in possession of more than the prescribed amounts is presumed to be trafficking. Furthermore, any person who is proved or presumed to have had a controlled drug in his possession shall be presumed to have known the nature of that drug. The burden of proof therefore rests on the defendant, as opposed to common law jurisdiction where the accused is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.</div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">A father left alone</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">When Cheong had first mentioned travelling to Myanmar, his father had not allowed him to go. “I told him not to go, to stay and help me with the business,” he says.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“But later I thought that he was already an adult, and I didn’t want to control him too much, so I let him go,” he adds. “If I had known, I would never have let him go.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheong Kah Pin now lives and runs his business alone. Every Monday morning, he rides a motorcycle across the Causeway in to Singapore to visit his son at Changi Prison.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“How can I not be heartbroken?” he says. “This is the only son I have by my side.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He tries to fill his days with work, going to morning markets as well as the usual night ones. Occasionally he will also seek extra factory work, helping to guard vehicles.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He says that it is not because he needs the money, but because he cannot bear to spend time alone in the house he once shared with his son. “I don’t want to stay at home, staring at the ceiling and crying,” he tells us.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“What meaning would there be left for me, if I were left alone?” he asks. “A good, healthy child, used by others because he was too gullible. Life will have no meaning for me if I were left alone.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">Awaiting presidential clemency</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cheong’s case has already progressed to the last stage: the presidential clemency. His clemency petition has already been submitted to President Nathan at the beginning of this year, and is expected to be due back by the end of April 2011. If the petition is turned down, Cheong can be expected to hang in early May.</div><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: whitesmoke; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Times, serif; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 15px;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In August 2010, in response to lawyer M Ravi’s application for a judicial review of the President’s powers in granting clemency, the Supreme Court ruled that the President has no discretion under the Constitution, and specifically under Article 22P, to grant pardons. “The power to do so rests solely with the Cabinet,”High Court Judge Steven Chong said.</div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Although time is running out, his father refuses to give up. “If my son was a bad person and a drug trafficker, I would have nothing to say,” he tells us. “But he is not a bad person. He really did not know he was carrying drugs. How can his life just be taken like this?”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal;">Malaysia also practices the Mandatory Death Penalty for drug-trafficking cases. On March 18, A Singaporean single mother was found <a href="http://sgdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2011/03/singaporean-mother-sentenced-to-death.html" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;">guilty of drug-trafficking</a> and sentenced to death. TOC will provide updates soon.</em></div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-29859429203539877292011-03-31T20:18:00.001+08:002011-03-31T20:19:33.877+08:00Sarawak man faces second murder charge in Singapore<div>TodayOnline: <a href="http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC110324-0000082/Man-faces-second-murder-charge">Man faces second murder charge</a></div><div><br />
</div><div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">SINGAPORE - He is among three men charged with the murder of a construction worker in the Kallang slashing case.<br />
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Now, Tony Imba, 32, faces a second murder charge after another alleged victim, who had been in a coma, died recently.<br />
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Tony was initially accused of robbing 63-year-old Jeffrey Tan Hong and hitting him with a block of wood at a Jalan Berseh footpath near Little India on May 30 last year.<br />
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Tony and two other men allegedly killed Mr Shanmuganathan Dillidurai, a 41-year-old construction worker, on the same day.<br />
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But with Mr Tan's death, Tony now stands accused of his murder, too.<br />
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Tony and his alleged accomplices - all from Sarawak - will be back in court on May 4. They face the death penalty if convicted of murder.<br />
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Four men have already been dealt with in court for their involvement in the Kallang slashing case.<br />
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One was sentenced to two years in jail and ordered to receive six strokes of the cane. The others, who were jailed for six years, will each receive 12 strokes of the cane.<br />
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The group is allegedly responsible for a series of armed robberies in the vicinity of Sims Drive and Geylang on May 30 last year, which resulted in Mr Shanmuganathan's death and caused three others to be seriously injured.</span></div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-45059589071114445712011-03-29T23:17:00.000+08:002011-03-29T23:17:59.236+08:00Iqah’s story - The single mum who became an unwitting drug mule<div style="text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div>Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) – Last Thursday, we visited the family and close friends of Noor Atiqah M. Lasim, a 27 year old Singaporean who was recently sentenced to death by Shah Alam’s High Court on 18 March 2011.<br />
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This is the story of Noor Atiqah, otherwise known affectionately as Iqah to her family and friends.<div><br />
<b>The beginning of the end</b><br />
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It was at a club in Clarke Quay around June 2008 that Iqah had her first contact with Valentine, the Nigerian who eventually led her to the state she is in today. The two started seeing each other in August the same year.<br />
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<div>Shortly after, Valentine suggested setting up a fashion business together and they planned to embark on sourcing trips to China. It certainly sounded like a good idea to Iqah, as she was hoping that the business will help to bring about a better life for her family.</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RjYLietNyiM/TZH2S8BGaII/AAAAAAAAARk/LK140OfhE6w/s1600/atiqh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RjYLietNyiM/TZH2S8BGaII/AAAAAAAAARk/LK140OfhE6w/s1600/atiqh.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iqah, a single mum with with her daughter</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RjYLietNyiM/TZH2S8BGaII/AAAAAAAAARk/LK140OfhE6w/s1600/atiqh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<b>A vacation gone wrong</b><br />
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In December 2008, Iqah traveled to Kuala Lumpur by bus with a long time friend, with the intention to celebrate New Year’s Day. During her stay there, she received a call from Frank, who she had met in Shenzhen. Frank informed her that samples were ready and made a request for her to collect them.<br />
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Iqah refused, as she could not afford to fly to Shenzhen on such a short notice. However Frank was insistent. He promised her USD$500 upon reaching Shenzhen as well as USD$200 for her expenses in Malaysia. Eventually Iqah agreed and Frank arranged for her to meet up with Emeka, a Ghanaian, at McDonalds in Petaling Street.<br />
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When they met on 3 Jan 2009, Emeka passed Iqah a blue luggage along with a budget flight ticket to Shenzhen. Puzzled, Iqah inquired the purpose of the luggage. Emeka then informed her that the luggage was for her to store the samples.<br />
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On 5 Jan 2009, while going through the immigrations at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Kuala Lumpur, she was requested to have her luggage through the scanner twice. She then cooperated when asked to open her luggage for inspection, and the rest was history.<br />
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342.1 grammes of heroin and 30.3 grammes of monoacethyl were found in a brown enveloped, cleverly concealed in the luggage given to her by Emeka.<br />
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<b>“We believe that Iqah is innocent.”</b><br />
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Iqah had spent time in prison since then and hence separated from her daughter. More than 2 years have passed since mother and daughter have met.<br />
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Before the final hearing on 18 March this year, her siblings were hopeful that she will be acquitted because they believe that she is innocent.<br />
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However, they were met with a shock when Judge Noor Azian Shaari delivered her sentence at Shah Alam High Court.</div><div><br />
Among themselves, they have started a campaign for Iqah. The campaign aims to raise funds for a second legal opinion as well as to spread the word about the case. Please visit the blog to find out more about how you can help.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://saveatiqah.blogspot.com/">Save Atiqah</a></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>sgdeathpenalty</i></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-18327801520012180762011-03-29T20:46:00.002+08:002011-03-29T20:56:19.496+08:00Vui Kong's verdict scheduled<div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EU1pq6GZ8ps/TH1aToYbgtI/AAAAAAAADO4/PwJFjIAILaQ/s1600/Yong+Vui+Kong+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EU1pq6GZ8ps/TH1aToYbgtI/AAAAAAAADO4/PwJFjIAILaQ/s200/Yong+Vui+Kong+2.JPG" width="141" /></a></div><div>The Singapore Court of Appeal will convene at 10am next Monday, 4th April to pass judgment on Vui Kong's appeal of the High Court's judgment on judicial review. As President SR Nathan has admitted that the powers to decide clemency for death row convicts rest on the Cabinet and not him, Vui Kong may have exhausted the last of his lifeline and his life may hinge on the decision of the CoA's verdict this coming Monday. </div><div><br />
</div><div>We have also heard that since Vui Kong's appeal started, there has been an unofficial temporary stay of execution for all prisoners on death row, pending the decision of the court on Yong's case. If the verdict goes south, then we may well see a Changi gallows bloodbath in a scale not seen since the <a href="http://www.truecrimelibrary.com/crime_series_show.php?id=840&series_number=13">Pulau Senang uprising</a> in 1965 when 18 men convicted of murdering a prison warden were hanged in a single Friday morning, </div><div><br />
</div><div>To give Vui Kong, his family and his counsel moral support through this difficult period, please visit the official <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SaveVuiKong">Save Vui Kong</a> Facebook page. </div><div><br />
</div><div><i>sgdeathpenalty</i><br />
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</span></span></div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-3413181587537449312011-03-22T21:11:00.000+08:002011-03-22T21:11:06.289+08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/41591_5081187633_4621_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/41591_5081187633_4621_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b>22 March 2011</b><br />
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The Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) wishes to express our utmost disappontment at Shah Alam High Court's decision to sentence Noor Atiqah M. Lasim to death for drug trafficking.<br />
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Noor Atiqah, a 27 year old single mother of a 6 year old girl from Singapore, was found in possession of 342.1 grammes of heroin and 30.3 grammes of monoacethyl morphine at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) on Jan 5, 2009. According to her statement as reported by the media, she claimed that the bag containing the drugs did not belong to her.<br />
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We will like to reiterate our stand against the use of the death penalty as a punishment against crimes. We implore the High Court of Shah Alam to look into this matter again, especially so when the result of the sentencing will be irreversible, leaving a young child without her mother.<br />
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Thank you.<br />
<br />
Rachel Zeng,<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/group.php?gid=5081187633">Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) </a>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-74224217822082487282011-03-20T16:15:00.000+08:002011-03-20T16:15:46.608+08:00Singaporean mother sentenced to death in Malaysia<div class="yom-mod yom-art-content"><div class="bd"><div class="yom-mod yom-art-content" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1300608577305189"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EQmUlw4wwm4/TYW3axGZciI/AAAAAAAAARc/EuVDgUWuX-c/s1600/dadah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EQmUlw4wwm4/TYW3axGZciI/AAAAAAAAARc/EuVDgUWuX-c/s200/dadah.jpg" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="postbody">Noor Atiqah M. Lasim</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="bd" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1300608577305188"><span class="postbody">SHAH ALAM, March 18 (Bernama) -- The Shah Alam High Court today sentenced a Singaporean single mother to death for trafficking in drugs at the Low Cost Carrier Teminal (LCCT), two years ago. <br />
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Judge Noor Azian Shaari delivered the sentence on Noor Atiqah M. Lasim, 27, after the defence failed to establish reasonable doubt on the charge under Section 39B (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. <br />
<br />
The accused, who worked as a legal assistant in the republic, was alleged to have trafficked in 342.1 grammes of heroin and 30.3 grammes of monoacethyl morphine at the LCCT on Jan 5, 2009. <br />
<br />
When delivering the decision, Noor Azian said the prosecution had proven a prima facie case against Noor Atiqah. <br />
<br />
After evaluation of the facts and statement, the court found the accused had custody and control of the drugs and called for her defence. <br />
<br />
According to Noor Azian, the defendant''s statement that the bag containing the drugs belonged to another person was difficult to believe and unreasonable. <br />
<br />
Noor Atiqah, mother of a six-year-old girl, was represented by counsel Mohaji Selamat while Wan Zuraida Wan Nawan was deputy public prosecutor. <br />
<br />
-- BERNAMA <br />
<br />
MK MOK IZ GR </span></div><div class="bd" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1300608577305188"><span class="postbody"> </span></div><div class="bd" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1300608577305188"><span class="postbody">Source: <a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/death-singaporean-single-mother-drug-trafficking-20110317-215320-692.html">Yahoo News </a></span></div></div></div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-26399698930259945272011-03-13T15:07:00.001+08:002011-03-15T20:25:50.629+08:0016-year-old girl among eight charged with murder<h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Source: <a href="http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/03/12/16-year-old-girl-among-eight-charged-with-murder/">Yahoo Fit-to-Post</a></span></h2><div class="top-meta" style="color: #323232; 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<div class="entry" style="color: #323232; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; margin-top: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A 16-year-old girl is charged with the murder of a 52-year-old man. (File Photo: AFP)</em></div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A 16-year-old girl was among eight people charged in court with the murder of a man in Tiong Bahru Park.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">S. Durga is believed to have been part of a group which attacked Mr Goh Ho Leong, 52, with broken bottles.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mr Goh was unconscious when police found him in the park on Tuesday night, with injuries all over his body.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He was taken to <a href="http://sg.search.yahoo.com/search?p=Singapore+General+Hospital&fr=fp-today&cs=bz" style="color: #334499; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Singapore General Hospital</a> where he died two days later.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mr Goh’s younger brother told local media that his older brother, who had been unemployed for about two years, received a call at around 9pm on Tuesday, before leaving his home.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The call was reportedly from a man who offered him a job as a security guard. Mr Goh took along his mobile phone and house keys, but not his wallet.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">At about 1am, Mr Goh’s family received a call from the police, informing them that he had been injured and was being taken to the hospital after being found lying at the park near his Redhill home.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">According to reports, the other seven accused are: Mansur Alikhan, 19, Abdul Samad Mohamed Kasim, 22, and S Karthikesu, Mohamed Fazuluddin Azeedali, Muhizin Khan, Segu Jamaldeen Nafil Mohamed and Anandraj Manimaran, all 18.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Full-time national serviceman Mohamed Ayub Jailabdeen, 27, appeared in court on Thursday with a rioting charge. His charge is expected to be upgraded to murder when the case comes up for mention on Thursday.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The other eight will be remanded until that day for further investigations. They will receive the death penalty if convicted.</div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-37182748006836837892011-02-24T22:43:00.000+08:002011-02-24T22:43:14.167+08:00<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><tbody>
<tr id="trHeadline"><td class="articleTitle" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 25px; font-weight: bold;" valign="top"><span id="DetailedTitle">Yong's Story<br />
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<tr><td><div id="ctl00_cphBody_dvArticleInfoBlock"><div class="articleSumm" id="ctl00_cphBody_dvSummary" style="font-weight: bold;">The case of a young Malaysian convicted for drug trafficking tests Singapore's capital punishment laws.</div><div class="articleSumm" id="ctl00_cphBody_dvSummary" style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</div><div class="articleSumm" id="ctl00_cphBody_dvSummary" style="font-weight: bold;">Watch Al Jazeera's special <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2011/01/20111258108702736.html">video report</a> on capital punishment and Yong Vui Kong's story in Singapore. </div></div></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2011/1/25/2011125113435642150_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2011/1/25/2011125113435642150_3.jpg" /></a></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-91133934006291606652011-01-29T15:21:00.001+08:002011-01-29T15:21:42.485+08:00WANTED FOR MERCY: SINGAPORE AND ITS MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY<div class="MsoTitle"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> East Asian Law Journal, Vol. 1 No. 2</span></b><br />
<b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoTitle"><b>By M. Ravi</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Practitioner at L.F. Violet Netto, </b><br />
<b>Lawyer for Yong Vui Kong and Alan Shadrake</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Co-author Choo Zheng Xi</b><br />
<b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Overview: harsh substantive law unsupported by criminological statistics</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Systematic penalogical data is hard to come by in Singapore, which has led the immediate past president of the Singapore Law Society to lament that “Singapore is sadly lacking a principled and transparent penal Policy because Government has not published detailed statistics of crime and punishment”.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Neither of Singapore’s two universities offering law degrees have a department of criminology in their law faculties. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">This statistical lacunae of general criminological data is alarming, but is rendered exponentially more egregious when one considers the most controversial application of the death penalty in Singapore: that trafficking in more than a quantity of drugs prescribed in the Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act is sufficient for a man to hang. The uniquely draconian nature of Singapore’s “Misuse of Drugs Act” deserves some elucidation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The first aspect of the death penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore is that it attracts not just the possibility of a sentence of death, but the <i>mandatory</i> death penalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Secondly, the mandatory nature of the death penalty for trafficking is coupled with a presumption of trafficking in cases of possession.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> This reverses the basic principle of criminal law that a charge must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt for conviction to follow. This means that if person A is asked by person B to pass a packet of heroin to person C on the pretext that the packet contains herbs, person A will be found guilty of trafficking if he does not inspect the package. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">This was in fact exactly the situation in the conviction of the 18-year-old Nigerian boy Amara Tochi in 2006. Although the trial judge held that although “</span><span class="txt-body"><span lang="EN-GB">There was no direct evidence that he (Tochi) knew the capsules contained diamorphine. There was nothing to suggest that Smith had told him they contained diamorphine, or that he had found that out on his own”</span></span><span lang="EN-US">,</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Tochi had “</span><span class="txt-body"><span lang="EN-GB">wilfully turned a blind eye on the contents of the capsules”.</span></span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></a></span><span class="txt-body"><span lang="EN-GB"> The prosecution’s duty to discharge their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt was reversed on Tochi to rebut the presumption of trafficking by showing he did not actually have knowledge of the contents of the package he was asked to carry. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span class="txt-body"><span lang="EN-GB">That Tochi was evidentially unable to discharge this presumption of knowledge illustrates how high the courts have set the bar even in such a situation where the substantive law is so stacked against the defence: in an attempt to prove to the investigating police officers that he genuinely thought the container contained African herbs, Tochi swallowed a “potentially lethal quantity of diamorphine”</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="txt-body"><span lang="EN-GB"> in front of them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">What little data is available is provided by international sources, and this points to an alarming rate of executions being carried out in Singapore. Indeed, Professor Michael Hor notes that “nowhere in the world is the war on drugs waged as savagely as in Singapore”.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Sabon-Roman;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Sabon-Roman; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> The statistics provided by Amnesty International bear this out: in a report commissioned in 2004, it noted that Singapore is likely to have the ignoble distinction of having the world’s highest <i>per capita</i> execution rate relative to its population.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Sabon-Roman;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Sabon-Roman; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Amnesty notes that the UN Secretary General’s quinquennial report on capital punishment for the period 1994 to 1999 showed Singapore had a rate of 13.57 executions per one million population, leaving Saudi Arabi a poor second at 4.65 executions per million.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Sabon-Roman;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Sabon-Roman; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><b><span lang="EN-US">Sentence and Execution of the Death Penalty<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Prisoners on death row are kept in isolation cells around three-square metres, including a toilet. Cells are sparsely furnished with no bedding and only a bucket for bathing. They are allowed a single 20-minute visit per week in a room separated from visitors by a pane of glass through which they have to communicate via a telephone. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Approximately 24 hours before a scheduled execution, the condemned man is asked to pose for a photo shoot in around a dozen different positions depicting normal life: sitting at a desk, in a suit, etc. These photos are then provided to the family. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">No physical contact with the condemned prisoner is allowed. The only exception to this rule was made for convicted Vietnamese-Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van in 2005. The Singapore government turned down a request by Nguyen’s mother to be allowed to embrace her son, permitting her only to hold his hand through prison bars and feel his face and hair before his execution.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Hangings in Singapore are conducted almost uniformly at 6.00 a.m. at the maximum security Changi Prison. The prisoner’s arms are handcuffed behind his back, and his legs are strapped together to prevent him kicking out during the fall. He is then positioned over twin trapdoors. The noose is placed around the neck with the knot behind the right ear in an attempt to ensure that the prisoner’s spinal cord is snapped instantly. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><b><span lang="EN-US">Victim Protection Policy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">No compensation policy exists for the victim and their family members. All funeral costs are borne by the family of the deceased. In informing the family of the condemned man of the impending execution, a terse letter is usually sent out stating the date of execution, final visitation time, and informing the family to make funeral arrangements in lieu of which the state will cremate the body.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Attitudes of Government and Society regarding the approving/abolishing of the death penalty</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">i)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">Historically limited reach of the abolitionist cause<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Despite the lack of criminological data, the Singapore government has repeatedly reaffirmed the need for the mandatory death penalty and cited its’ alleged contribution to a society with low crime rates. In response to the criticisms of Amnesty International, the Ministry of Home Affairs replied in a press release with the sweeping assertion that “In the case of drug trafficking, the death penalty has deterred major drug syndicates from establishing themselves in Singapore”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">One might think that the legal community would be uniquely placed to spearhead the abolitionist movement, and to give some credit where it is due, members of the bar have made tentative attempts to question the mandatory death penalty.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> However, any efforts the Law Society of Singapore might make towards spearheading a sustained abolitionist movement are hamstrung by Section 38 (1) (c) of the Legal Professions Act which confines the Law Society from commenting on legislation only if it has been “submitted to it” by the government. This provision was specifically introduced in October 1986 to, in the words of then Law Minister Mr E W Barker, “tie down the Law Society”.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The personal toll to comprehensively taking on the state in capital cases is also not to be underestimated. By this I mean the toll from exploring options for abolishing the death penalty over and beyond the merits of the individual case in an attempt to start a societal dialogue about more than what the law is to what the law should be. The state media in Singapore, which is a virtual duopoly, systematically ran a smear campaign against me after my first capital case in 2003. The media went to the extent of highlighting the fact that my late father was an alcoholic and my late mother had committed suicide. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The debate in the wider public is almost completely non-existent due to the fact that the media in Singapore is tightly regulated under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> and often uncritically reports the government’s view.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> A recent unscientific video survey of different demographies of Singaporeans conducted by Singaporean news website The Online Citizen (TOC)</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> showed a widespread lack of understanding of the issues surrounding the death penalty. For instance, many interviewees did not understand the implications of the term “mandatory” used in conjunction with “death penalty”.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> This is not for lack of formal education: the Singaporean education system is regularly touted by the government to be one of the best in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Civil society support is largely ad-hoc and the only group directly committed to abolition is the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC), formed in October 2005. The only political party to consistently and vocally oppose the death penalty has been the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) headed by Dr Chee Soon Juan. Online media has also recently been playing an increasingly important role in galvanizing the abolitionist movement, with TOC partnering the SADPC to spearhead the latest campaign to abolish the death penalty. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">ii)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">Debate rejuvenated: The case of Yong Vui Kong (Constitutional Appeal)</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-US">Despite the many impediments to public debate on the death penalty, a confluence of events have conspired to make this last year probably one of the most significant in abolitionist history in Singapore. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The first catalyst was the case of Malaysian boy Yong Vui Kong, who was 19 years old when he was caught trying to smuggle 47.27g of diamorphine into Singapore. He was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court in 2009,</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[21]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> withdrew his right to appeal, and had a clemency plea to the President rejected. Yong’s case drew little attention in the national newspapers and even in the online media. He was represented by state assigned counsel at this stage of the process. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Around December 2009, Yong’s case was brought to my attention by a fellow practitioner who asked me to consider if there was anything further that could be done on Yong’s behalf. Four days before Yong was supposed to be hanged, I filed a Criminal Motion seeking leave to pursue an appeal on the grounds that the mandatory death penalty was unconstitutional. The Court of Appeal granted leave to do so.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[22]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The basis of my constitutional challenge was that the Constitutional right to life enshrined in Article 9 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore which states that no person may be deprived of his life “save in accordance with law” should be read to in a manner that does not contravene customary international law, and should in fact incorporate the international consensus that that mandatory death penalty is an impermissible violation to the right to life as it constitutes “cruel and inhuman punishment”. The mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking was thus unconstitutional. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">In addition I sought to admit the evidence of Professor Fagan</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> and his published article comparing Hong Kong and Singapore which dealt with the question of deterrence</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[24]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US">. At the least it shows that resort to the mandatory death penalty cannot be shown to act as a significant deterrence to offenders. If the death penalty itself is not proven to deter any more than the penalty of life imprisonment, then the introduction of some discretion in the sentencing of those convicted of trafficking in drugs cannot possibly be rejected on the grounds of deterrence. I invited the Court to have Professor Fagan’s expert testimony be adduced as evidence because the court in a previous case of Nguyen</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> did suggest that it would have been assisted by some factual material on types of offence and offender that would be subject to the mandatory death penalty in the same way as the Indian Court in the case of Mithu</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US">. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The court chose instead to take an extreme positivist interpretation of the Constitution, with the startling conclusion that bears repeating in full:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">“the right to freedom from inhuman punishment was not elevated to a constitutional right. There is, in substance, no difference between repealing an existing constitutional provision prohibiting inhuman punishment and deliberately deciding not to enact such a constitutional provision in the first place. On this ground alone, there is no legitimate basis for this court to now expand, via an interpretative exercise, the scope of Art 9(1) so as to include a prohibition against inhuman punishment”. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Additionally, the Court of Appeal adopted a firm dualist stance towards the reception of international law, going to the extent of foreclosing future constitutional challenges in court to the constitutionality of the death penalty brought on the grounds of Article 9(1) of the Singapore Constitution. This would be regardless of “any changes in CIL (customary international law) and any foreign constitutional or judicial developments in relation to the MDP (mandatory death penalty) as an inhuman punishment”. In other words, even if every other country in the world were to accept that the mandatory death penalty violated a customary international law norm against cruel and inhuman punishment and resolutions were passed in the United Nations to that effect, still no judicial remedy would be available unless Parliament in Singapore chose to legislate such a norm into being. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">iii)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">The case of Yong Vui Kong (Judicial Review)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Although Yong’s Constitutional appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal, another unprecedented opening for legal recourse opened itself up from an unexpected quarter. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span lang="EN-US">On 9 May 2010, four days before the Court of Appeal delivered judgment on Yong’s case, Singapore’s Law Minister Mr K Shanmugam commented directly on Yong’s case in a public forum. He stated that “If Yong escapes the death penalty, drug barons will think the signal is that young and vulnerable traffickers will be spared and can be used as drug mules”. These remarks were widely reported in the Singaporean media. Under Article 22P of the Constitution, Cabinet advises the President on the grant of clemency. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">In a subsequent statement on 9 July 2010, the Ministry of Law issued a press release stating that Mr Shanmugam’s remarks were justified as the Government’s policy is a “matter of public importance”. Additionally, the Law Ministry took the opportunity to further prejudice the clemency process by highlighting prejudicial information based on charges that were never brought against Yong by claiming as a fact that he had previously trafficked quantities of ketamine and erimine.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[28]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The main thrust of the new argument for judicial review was based on the legal theory of apparent bias: that the rules of natural justice apply to the process of clemency, and that those rules had been breached by Mr Shanmugam’s comments. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Further, another important constitutional point was also open to be challenged as a result of the remarks of Singapore’s Attorney-General when he argued the State’s case at the Constitutional appeal level. The then Attorney-General Walter Woon had argued that “although in theory it is the President who exercises the prerogative of mercy, in fact it is the Cabinet that makes the decision”. He made this submission in the Court of Appeal. The AG also said, unrebutted, that “The President does not have a discretion in this matter”. This is despite the wording of the pardon provision in Article 22P of the Constitution, which states that “The President <i>may</i> on the advice of Cabinet pardon”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">This is significant because until that statement in court, it had been assumed by members of the public and the criminal bar that Singapore’s Elected President had discretion in making the decision of whether or not to exercise the high prerogative of mercy. All petitions for clemency are sent to the President’s office, and written rejections are made in his name. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">If I were to be able to successfully argue that the President has discretion in deciding clemency petitions, the revelation by the Attorney-General that Cabinet practice is to not give the President discretion would mean that all previous clemency rejections and subsequent executions were miscarriages of justice, including Yong’s first rejected clemency petition. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">iv)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">Leave application: High Court ruling<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">As I am currently waiting to appeal the High Court ruling to the Court of Appeal in September, I will attempt to refrain from commenting on the merits of the judgment and give a survey of the Court’s main findings. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">I filed a prohibiting order under Order 53/1/3 of the Rules of Supreme Court to request leave for the High Court to prevent Yong’s execution from moving ahead on the basis that the process of clemency was irreversibly tainted by the Law Minister’s comments as set out in the above section. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The main grounds on which the Court had to decide the case were completely unprecedented, as noted by Justice Steven Chong in his decision.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[29]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> The first point of law to be decided was whether or not the clemency process was subject to judicial review, and the second was on whether or not the President had any discretion under Article 22P of the Constitution to pardon. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
Before I address the substantive issues raised in the judgment, I should perhaps address the threshold question for the standard for leave to be granted for substantive arguments to be heard on judicial review. An Order 53 application is essentially an ex parte application that the court has the discretion to turn into an inter partes proceeding. There is authority on point stating that the courts should only conduct a quick perusal of the materials to determine whether it discloses an arguable case for granting the reliefs claimed and that the threshold for leave should be met if there is an arguable case in favour of granting the relief claimed. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn30;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[30]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> However, the court chose to interpret this to apply only to cases where all the evidence is not before the court and there is a necessity for it to be produced in a substantive hearing. Accordingly, the Court proceeded to analyze all the substantive grounds of the judicial review action in its’ judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">a.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Justiciability of the clemency process<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">On the first substantive issue, the Court agreed with Mr David Chong SC from the Attorney-General’s Chamber’s submission that the actions of Cabinet in relation to clemency proceedings was beyond justiciability. At the high watermark of the Mr Chong’s submissions, he argued that the position in law should be that no matter how capricious or arbitrary even to the extent of discriminating on the basis of race, a decision of Cabinet at the clemency process stage would not be reviewable by the courts. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">It might seem to a casual observer that the Court did not venture as far as to agree with Mr Chong’s submission, as it instead cited the seminal holding in <i>Chng Tsuan Tze v Minister for Home Affairs </i>with approval: “all power has legal limits and the rule of law demands that the courts should be able to examine the exercise of discretionary power”. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[31]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Unfortunately, the substance of the decision which held that the clemency process is not justiciable is essentially irreconcilable with this statement. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The next point to note is the extent to which the clemency process in Singapore has been placed beyond review encompasses the whole process from before a petition of clemency is filed up until it is rejected. The High Court held that “it was clear that the courts have consistently declined to review the process for the exercise of the prerogative of mercy on any ground at all”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn32;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[32]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> and that the cases cited by the Mr David Chong SC were indistinguishable from Yong’s case. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">This implicitly rejected the distinction that formed the crux of the defense’s case: that comments made by the Law Minister were made before the clemency process had begun, a situation which has no precedent in Commonwealth case law. It is unfortunate that the uniqueness of this distinction was not recognized, and it remains for me to convince the Court of Appeal that at least this stage of the process should be subject to judicial review. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">b.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">The power of the Elected President to Pardon<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The second prong of Yong’s defense was that the Elected President of Singapore under Article 22P of the Constitution has the discretion to pardon, with Cabinet advising him on whether or not to. The Article reads that the President “<i>may</i> on the advice of Cabinet Pardon” (emphasis added), and defense lawyers have for years been sending petitions to the President on the belief that he was the one who was making a final decision. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Of legal significance to Yong’s case is this fact: that if the President indeed has the discretion on whether or not to pardon, then the description by the Attorney-General in the Court of Appeal at the Constitutional stage that “the President has no discretion in this matter” would be an admission that Yong’s rights had been violated when his first clemency appeal was turned down. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">On this point, the High Court preferred Mr Chong’s strictly textualist reading of the Constitution. Mr Chong’s argument was that Article 21 (1) states the default position that the President is to act on advice of Cabinet unless specific provision is made for him to exercise his discretion. Article 21(2) of the Constitution sets out the discretionary grants of power given to the Cabinet. The Court however disagreed with defence that Article 21(2)(i) which states that “any other function the performance of which the President is authorized by this Constitution to act in his discretion” was a savings clause sufficient to encompass the power of Presidential pardon in Article 22P. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">v)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">Resurgent public interest and campaign<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">The trajectory of public interest in Yong’s case has arced steadily upwards as every battle in court has managed to extend the number of days Yong is alive. This is due in part to the increasing interest of the Malaysian government in his case, as well as the extra time abolitionist activists have had to organize public outreach events to support Yong’s cause. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Even until the end of the Constitutional appeal stage in May 2010, Yong’s case was hardly reported in the Malaysian press. Up until June 14, journalist for online Malaysian news portal Malaysiakini Susan Loone lamented that Malaysia had been “painfully silent on the upcoming execution of Yong Vui Kong”.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[33]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Since the failure of the appeal, I visited Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur several times to liase with the Malaysian Bar Council and NGO group Lawyers for Liberty in an attempt to find opportunities to bringing Yong’s case to the attention of the Malaysian government. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Finally, the breakthrough arrived on 5 July 2010, after months of attempting to seize the Malaysian government’s interest in Yong’s case. A week prior to 5 July, I was introduced to one Ms Ngeow Chow Ying, a dynamic young lawyer from a Malaysian Chinese lobbying group, the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. She arranged a meeting with a prominent member of the opposition Mr Tian Chua, who promised to find a way to get the attention of the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and seek their support for the Malaysian government’s intercession on Yong’s behalf. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">On 5 July, the opposition proposed an emergency motion in the Malaysian Parliament to debate support for Yong. Although the motion was rejected on technical grounds by the Speaker of Parliament, this tactical move was significant enough to get the attention of Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, and his agreement to meet with me to discuss possible intervention. In our meeting, the Foreign Minister agreed to provide robust support in attempting to save Yong, and promised to write to the Singapore government to plead for clemency on Yong’s behalf. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[34]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">This event was the turning point of arousing public interest on both sides of the Malaysia-Singapore causeway. Almost every single Malaysian media outlet was present at the press conference Mr Tian Chua helped me organize after the meeting: now that the Minister had spoken all eyes were on the Malaysian government’s next action. The news was subsequently carried in the mainstream press and given even more prominence in the vernacular Chinese press in Malaysia. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">In Singapore, activists were re-energized by the possibility that a last ditch plea by the Malaysian government might be effective considering the close ties between the two governments. Campaigners in Malaysia started a campaign called “Give Vui Kong a second chance”, and to date have collected around 40,000 signatures across Malaysia. In Singapore, 150 people turned up at Singapore’s free speech corner to take part in a joint TOC-SADPC photo campaign and petition drive in support of the Malaysian effort. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[35]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US">Taking into account Singaporeans’ usual reluctance to be associated with controversial causes, the willingness of 150 ordinary citizens to be photographed in support of Vui Kong’s cause was significant. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">vi)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">Alan Shadrake: International spotlight on Singapore’s death penalty<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Yet another unexpected catalyst for public debate on the death penalty showed up in Singapore in the form of veteran British journalist Alan Shadrake. 75-year-old Shadrake entered Singapore on 17 July 2010 to launch his wide-ranging book criticizing the death penalty in Singapore. His principle contribution to the death penalty dialogue until then had been an exclusive interview with Singapore’s veteran hangman, Darshan Singh in 2003, around the time of the hanging of Vietnamese-Australian Nguyen Tuong Van on charges of smuggling. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-US">Using his interview with Singh as the premise for his book, entitled “Once a Jolly Hangman”, Shadrake uses court documents, interviews with former undercover Central Narcotics Bureau officers, and interviews with practicing lawyers to highlight controversial cases where the death penalty was applied or withdrawn. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">At 8am in the morning after the book launch, Shadrake was arrested at his hotel and called in for questioning on charges of contempt of court and criminal defamation. This turned what would otherwise have been another isolated attack on the death penalty in Singapore into an international cause célèbre for freedom of speech: Shadrake’s arrest was carried prominently in international press, making headlines on BBC online, BBC radio news service, and The Guardian.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Alan Shadrake’s case is set to be heard on 30 August 2010. As I am representing him in these proceedings it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on the case. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Conclusion</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">While the process of public engagement on abolishing the death penalty is still in its incipient stage, the past year has seen a confluence of events that have created many possibilities for abolitionists to begin a sustained public debate about the justice of the punishment. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">I have attempted to provide a survey of the intertwining challenges to abolition in this brief article to highlight how the road to dismantling the death penalty in Singapore is a long and winding one. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">In Singapore, the war for abolition cannot be won solely in the courtrooms. It has to be part of the struggle to build an independent and supportive press, integral to the effort to re-empower the local bar, and most importantly to win the hearts and minds of citizens whose eyes have been too long closed to the most fundamental questions of civil and political rights.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">M Ravi</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[36]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Michael Hwang article: http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Michael-Hwang-Crime-n-Punishment-Part-2.pdf</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Section 5 (2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act: “for the purposes of this Act, a person commits the offence of trafficking in a controlled drug if he has in his possession that drug for the purpose of trafficking”</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Public Prosecutor v Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi and Another[2005] SGHC 233 at 42</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Id at 48</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Id at 39</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Michael Hor,“<i>The Death Penalty in Singapore and International Law</i>” (2004) 8 S.Y.B.I.L. 105</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Singapore, the death penalty: A hidden toll of executions, Amnesty International Index: ASA 36/001/2004. 15 January 2004, online: Amnesty International website </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa360012004"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: black;">http://web.amnesty.org/library/i<span style="color: black;">ndex/engasa360012004</span></span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Id., citing UN document:E/CN.4/1997/60, 24 December 1996, paragraph 81</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Supra note 7</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> “Hanging Protests Sweep Nation”, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 December 2005, online: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/vigils-held-in-the-final-hours/2005/12/02/1133422072619.html?page=2</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Process described in detail in “Once a Jolly Hangman”. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> For example, a letter sent to the family of executed Vignes Mourthi read: “You are advised to make the necessary funeral arrangements. If you are unable to do so, cremation will be carried out by the state”. The whole process of dehumanization is detailed in a book I wrote about the Vignes Mourthi trial, Hung at Dawn.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[13]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">Ministry of Home Affairs press release, 30 January 2004, online: http://www.mha.gov.sg/basic_content.aspx?pageid=74</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[14]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> See for example the late KS Rajah SC’s article “‘The Unconstitutional Punishment’, Singapore Law Gazette, August 2003”. See also the Law Society’s recommendation during the 2007 Penal Code reform that judges be given discretion when sentencing offenders of drug crimes. Online, http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/feedback_pc/pdf/execSummary.aspx</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[15]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> This tying down was felt to be necessary in wake of the Law Society’s revolt against the government’s introduction to amendments to the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act that would have allowed the government to curtail the circulation of foreign publications that it felt were interfering in domestic politics. The Law Society under the leadership of former Solicitor-General Francis Seow had criticized these amendments in a press release on 22 May 1986. A useful history of this provision can be found appended to Law Society President Michael Hwang’s Message of October 2009, online at </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/president_message/President_Message_for_Oct_2009.pdf"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/president_message/President_Message_for_Oct_2009.pdf</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Supra note 12 at 199-200.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 9pt;">Under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, shareholdings in newspaper companies are divided into ordinary shares and management shares. Each management share entitles the holder to the equivalent of 200 votes in the appointment of the board of directors of the newspaper company as well as its staff. <br />
Under Section 10 (11) of the Act:<br />
</span><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: SimSun; font-size: 9pt;">揟</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 9pt;">he holder of management shares shall be entitled either on a poll or by a show of hands to <b>200 votes for each management share</b> held by him upon any resolution <b>relating to the appointment or dismissal of a director or any member of the staff</b> of a newspaper company but shall in all other respects have the same voting rights as the holder of ordinary shares._ (emphasis added)<br />
Management shares must be approved in writing by the Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts (section 10 (c) of the Act), and the newspaper companies have no power to refuse the Minister’s approval granting management shares (section 10(2)).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div></div><div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> For example, the comments of the Law Ministry on 9 July that were in issue in the judicial review action were given almost full page coverage in the national newspaper, The Straits Times. While I was asked to comment, that comment did not appear. The reporter in question gave the excuse that my reply had come in after the article had gone to press, and thus could not be printed. “Law Ministry Rebuts Lawyer’s Claims”, Zakir Hussain ,The Straits Times, </span><span lang="EN-US">9 July 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[19]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> www.theonlinecitizen.com</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[20]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> For example, see the following video on the views of young Singaporeans about the mandatory death penalty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZalXPtvJEg4&feature=related</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn21" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[21]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US"> <i>Public Prosecutor v Yong Vui Kong </i>[2009] SGHC 4<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[22]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">Yong Vui Kong v Public Prosecutor</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> [2009] SGCA</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn23" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[23]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">Professor Fagan is a professor of law and public health at Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Yale Law School. The purpose of Fagan’s evidence is to demonstrate that the deterrent effect of the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking has not been established and that the higher rate of execution in Singapore has not reduced crime rates when compared to the position in the comparable state of Hong Kong. Professor Fagan’s affidavit also demonstrates the type of offender who is often persuaded to act as a courier in drug trafficking offences and the limited deterrent effect of the mandatory death penalty on such offences. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn24" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[24]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">Executions, Deterrence and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities. Journal of Empirical Legal Stories, Vol. 7, Issue 1, 1-29, March 2010</span><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn25" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[25]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">The Court of Appeal when it rendered its decision in Nguyen Tuong Van v PP (2005) 1 SLR 103 plainly considered that the arguments advanced regarding the unconstitutionality of the mandatory death penalty were incomplete due to the absence of “sociological data” (Nguyen, paragraph 72, distinguishing Mithu) and comparable “material” before the Court, which meant that the Court had to dismiss the Appellant’s Article 12 argument “in the absence of full arguments”.</span><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn26" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[26]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">In Mithu v Punjab (1983) 2 SLR 690, it was held that “A provision of law which deprives the court of the use of its wise and beneficent discretion in a matter of life and death, without regard to the circumstances in which the offence was committed, and therefore without regard to the gravity of the offence, cannot but be regarded as harsh, unjust and unfair”. Article 9(1) of Singapore Constitution has its prototype in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Article 21 has been interpreted by the Indian Supreme Court to mean that the process by which someone is sentenced to death must be “fair, just and reasonable”. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn27" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn27;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[27]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Id at 74</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn28" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn28;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[28]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Supra note 17</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn29" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn29;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[29]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Yong Vui Kong v PP</i>, [2010] SGHC 235 at 1</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn30" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[30]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> <i>Chan Hiang Leng Colin v Minister for Information and the Arts</i> [1996] 1 SLR (R) 294, citing the test in <i>IRC v National Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses Ltd </i>[1982] AC 617 at 643-644</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn31" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn31;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[31]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> [1988] 2 SLR (R) 525 at 86</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn32" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[32]</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> Supra note 23 at 66</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn33" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn33;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[33]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> “Silence on Yong’s pending execution in S’pore”, Susan Loone, Malaysiakini, 14 June 2010, online: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/134494<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn34" style="mso-element: footnote;"><h2><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn34;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-weight: normal;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[34]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-weight: normal;">A full report on the events of that day can be found here: “Malaysian FM: “If I save one life, it will give me great satisfaction”, Choo Zheng Xi, The Online Citizen, 5 July 2010, online: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/07/malaysian-fm-%E2%80%9Cif-i-save-one-life-it-will-give-me-great-satisfaction%E2%80%9D/</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></h2></div><div id="ftn35" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn35;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[35]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">A full report on the events of that day can be found here: “There must be room for mercy”, The Online Citizen, 2 August 2010, online: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/08/there-must-be-room-for-mercy/</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn36" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/M.Ravi3/Downloads/MDP_article%20converted%20(1).doc#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn36;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[36]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> Practitioner at L F Violet Netto, Lawyer for Yong Vui Kong and Alan Shadrake. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7980499113043218220.post-29458532150119632012011-01-27T10:18:00.002+08:002011-01-27T10:18:45.773+08:00TOC: Police investigate SFD members over death penalty book<div class="postmeta left" style="color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 600px;"><h2 class="posttitle" style="color: #222222; font-weight: bold; font: normal normal normal 22px/24px Arial, Helvetica, Times, serif; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/01/police-investigate-sfd-members-over-death-penalty-book/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Police investigate SFD members over death penalty book</span></a></h2><span class="left" style="float: left; font-size: 12px;">Posted by <a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/author/theonlinecitizen/" style="color: #222222; text-decoration: none;" title="Posts by theonlinecitizen">theonlinecitizen</a> on January 25, 2011</span><span class="comment right" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/themes/newstube/images/comment.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; float: right; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 20px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="comments-link" href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/01/police-investigate-sfd-members-over-death-penalty-book/#comments" style="color: #222222; text-decoration: none;" title="Comment on Police investigate SFD members over death penalty book">17 Comments</a></span></div><div class="clear" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #222222; display: block; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 17px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;"></div><div class="entry" style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 15px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/01/police-investigate-sfd-members-over-death-penalty-book/sfd-group-pic-at-fff2010/" rel="attachment wp-att-31003" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-31003" height="265" src="http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/sfd-group-pic-at-fff2010.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="sfd-group-pic-at-fff2010" width="400" /></a>Three members of Singaporeans For Democracy (SFD) are being investigated by the police over the sale of 12 copies of the book <em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal;">Once A</em> <em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal;">Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock</em> at a <a href="http://sfd.sg/content/sfd-hosts-freedom-film-fest-2010-singapore" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;">film screening at the Substation on 14 November 2010.</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mr Seelan Palay 27, Mr Jarrod Luo 27 and Miss Rachel Zeng 28 have been summoned to appear at the Major Crime Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at 1130am on 27 January 2011.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/01/police-investigate-sfd-members-over-death-penalty-book/once-a-jolly-hangman-3/" rel="attachment wp-att-31000" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-31000" height="300" src="http://theonlinecitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/once-a-jolly-hangman2-201x300.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="once-a-jolly-hangman" width="201" /></a>The police summons were individually delivered from 7am-8am on 19 January 2011 by hand to the trio at their homes by investigating officer ASP Roy Lim from the Special Investigation Section, Major Crime Division, Criminal Investigation Department. Internet research shows that ASP Lim, who has previously investigated murder cases for the Singapore Police Force, has now been tasked to investigate the SFD trio.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">According to the summons, the SFD trio is being investigated under section 502 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 under the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (Act 15 of 2010). The said section relates to the “Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter, knowing it to contain such matter, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both”.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The said book was the subject of a contempt of court case brought upon by the Government against its author Alan Shadrake. On 3rd November last year, the High Court found the British author guilty of scandalizing the judiciary. Two weeks later, he was sentenced to six weeks jail and S$20,000 (US$15,375) fine, with an additional order to pay the prosecution’s expenses of S$55,000 (US$42,300).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Shadrake is currently awaiting the outcome of the appeal against the sentencing, and is currently compelled to remain in the country. Pending police investigations, an additional charge of criminal defamation also awaits him. Despite the prosecution of Shadrake for contempt of court, presently the book is not banned in Singapore.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On 14 November, two days before Shadrake’s sentencing, SFD held a film festival at the Substation Arts Centre under the charge of its Festival Director, Mr Martyn See. Entitled Freedom Film Fest (FFF), the 4 hour screening had featured Media Development Authority cleared documentaries on Malaysia’s human rights issues.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">12 copies of Shadrake’s book at $25 each were put on sale at the door during the event, and were all sold out. After the event an article was written up for the SFD website and photos from the event were uploaded onto the SFD Facebook page and <a href="http://jacob69.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/photos-first-ever-human-rights-film-festival-in-singapore/" style="color: #16387c; text-decoration: none;">SFD member Jacob George’s blog</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The trio, are not the first to be called up for investigation into this matter. ASP Lim, accompanied by another police officer went to the Substation to meet with its Artistic Director, Mr. Noor Effendy Ibrahim on the week of 13 December 2010.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They presented Mr. Ibrahim with a letter informing him that the police are investigating the sale of “contraband items” at the Substation. The police officers showed him photos of the death penalty book being displayed on sale at the SFD hosted Freedom Film Fest. Mr. Ibrahim, then on the very same day went to the Cantonment Police Complex to record a statement with ASP Roy Lim.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">SFD’s Dr James Gomez, Executive Director and Mr Martyn See, Executive Secretary will be accompanying the trio to the Police Cantonment Complex at 391 New Bridge Road on 27 January 2010 and will stay at the complex until the three SFD members are released from their questioning.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">The SFD Trio:</strong><br />
Mr Seelan Palay 27, is SFD`s Communications Director & a film maker</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mr Jarrod Luo 27 is an ordinary member of SFD & member of the Young Democrats, SDP</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Miss Rachel Zeng 28 is an ordinary member of SFD & a social activist</div></div>The Death Penalty in Singaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16070693195783547770noreply@blogger.com1