Malaysian K Datchinamurthy’s family has been notified that his execution in Singapore will take place today, with instructions to collect his body at 3pm.
His lawyer, N Surendran, urged the Singapore government to halt the execution, noting that the family has filed an urgent application with the Court of Appeal for a stay.
“To pretend to give a reprieve to Datchinamurthy, raise his and his family’s hopes, and then plunge them into horror and despair again, is unforgivable and uncivilised. It amounts to carrying out the execution in an arbitrary, cruel, and unusual manner, which is unlawful and unconstitutional. The cruelty inflicted appears deliberate and unfeeling, and is a new low for Singapore. In short, it is state barbarism,” said the Lawyers for Liberty adviser.
Earlier today, Surendran said the Singapore Prison Service informed the family that the execution had been halted, though no reason was given.
Datchinamurthy, 39, has been on death row for a decade after being convicted of smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into Singapore. Arrested in 2011, he was sentenced to death in 2015.
His execution, initially scheduled for 2022, was delayed after he obtained a stay from the Singapore High Court while pursuing legal action against the government over his death sentence.
He is one of four Malaysians on death row in Singapore whose cases were highlighted by Suhakam earlier this month in an appeal for Putrajaya to intervene. The others are P Pannir Selvam, S Saminathan, and R Lingkesvaran.