One more lifeline for Malaysian after Singapore court throws out appeal against execution

Singapore’s Court of Appeal today dismissed the bid by Sabahan Pausi Jefridin to put a halt to his execution, although one more legal avenue remains for him in his efforts to escape the death sentence handed down to him for trafficking drugs some 14 years ago.

This follows a scramble this morning to collect S$20,000 or just over RM62,000 in security costs in order to win a few hours’ stay.

Prominent human rights lawyer M Ravi said Pausi and Singaporean Roslan Bakar, who was scheduled for execution along with Pausi, had been given until 1.45pm to come up with the amount.

“The poor and the oppressed have little access to justice. There is no rule of law in Singapore. Sucks!” he said in a Facebook post.

In another post criticising the “humongous filing fee”, he said this would have been free in Malaysia.

Pausi and Roslan had been slated for execution today despite experts’ reports on their low mental capabilities.

The men, who were charged with trafficking 96.07g of diamorphine and 76.37g of methamphetamine in 2008, were convicted in 2010.

They failed in an appeal in 2017 to commute their death sentence to life imprisonment, despite lawyers citing medical reports on their intellectual capabilities which would render their execution illegal under Singapore laws as well as international treaties.

Their case is similar to that of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a Malaysian diagnosed with an IQ of 69 who was to have been executed in November last year.

He was granted a stay of execution after a diagnosis of Covid-19 just before the court was due to hear a last-ditch appeal to save his life.

His hearing is believed to have been set for this month.

Nagaenthran’s plight drew public outrage, with pleas for leniency coming from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which Singapore is a signatory, the execution of a person with mental disability is prohibited.

Similarly, Section 33B(3) of Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act prohibits the death sentence on persons who suffer from retarded development of mind that would impair their mental responsibility for their actions.