PETALING JAYA: Malaysian S Prabagaran, 29, is doomed to the gallows for trafficking drugs in neighbouring Singapore in 2012 and is set to be executed in a couple of weeks.
But a prominent Singaporean lawyer and two of his Malaysian counterparts are racing against the clock to save his life.
Singaporean M Ravi, who founded the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign is working with human rights lawyers Latheefa Koya and N Surendran to stop Prabagaran’s execution.
Both Latheefa and Surendran are members of PKR. Surendran is also the Padang Serai MP.
According to Singapore website The Independent, the Malaysian lawyers may file for a judicial review in the Kuala Lumpur High Court for an order to compel Putrajaya to file an immediate complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
They hope that this would save Prabagaran from being “unlawfully executed” under customary international law, on account of a breach of his right to a fair trial in Singapore.
Ravi also said he met with Malaysia’s ambassador-at-large for human rights Shafee Abdullah and briefed him on his ICJ memorandum addressed to the Malaysian government.
Anti-death penalty activists in Singapore say that Prabagaran has maintained his innocence and helped Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau to disrupt drug activities. He is waiting for the result of his clemency petition to the Singapore President.
“If the Public Prosecutor so certifies, and if the offender is also merely a courier, then the sentencing judge has the discretion to impose life imprisonment in lieu of the death penalty,” said Ravi.
Both Singapore and Malaysia have strict anti-drug laws which can carry the death penalty.