Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Singaporeans hold vigil for Malaysians facing execution

Singaporeans hold vigil for Malaysians facing execution

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
People display placards and led lights during a vigil for Malaysian national Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, sentenced to death for trafficking heroin into Singapore, at Speakers corner in Singapore on Monday. AFP

Singaporeans hold vigil for Malaysians facing execution

Hundreds of Singaporeans held a candlelight vigil on Monday to protest the looming execution of two Malaysians convicted of drug offences, as the UN urged the city-state to spare them.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, a mentally disabled man arrested in 2009 for heroin-trafficking, is to be hanged on Wednesday despite an international outcry.

Another Malaysian, Datchinamurthy Kataiah, is scheduled to be executed two days later, according to campaigners.

More than 400 Singaporeans gathered late Monday at “Speakers’ Corner” in a downtown park, the only place in the tightly controlled city-state where protests are allowed without prior police approval.

The demonstrators held electric candles, torches, and signs reading “Abolish the death penalty” and “End oppression, not life”.

“No more blood on our hands”, the crowd chanted, as well as “justice” and “freedom”.

It was the second sizeable demonstration in Singapore – where protests are rare – in a few weeks against the death penalty.

Dharmalingamn was arrested at the age of 21 after being found with a small bundle of heroin and lost a last-ditch appeal against the death sentence last month.

Supporters say he has an IQ of 69, a level recognised as a disability, and was coerced into committing the crime.

His case has sparked widespread criticism, including from the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson.

Kataiah was arrested in 2011 and convicted on drug trafficking charges.

Speaking on the sidelines of the protest, his sister Sathirani told AFP she was “shocked” her brother will be hanged as he was a small-time courier.

“He feels that the punishment is not fair,” she said.

UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani urged Singapore “to immediately halt its execution plans, to consider granting Dharmalingham and Kataiah clemency, and to commute their sentences to prison terms.”

Singapore last month carried out its first execution since 2019. Alongside the two cases this week, activists fear there could be more hangings in coming months.

The city-state maintains the death penalty for several offences, and insists it has helped to keep Singapore one of Asia’s safest places.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • Cambodian diaspora laud Manet’s UN Assembly visit

    Members of the Cambodian diaspora are rallying in support of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s forthcoming visit to the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) in the US’ New York City this week. Their move is an apparent response to a recent call by self-exiled former

  • After three deferrals, Capital Gains Tax to take effect Jan 1, 2024

    The General Department of Taxation (GDT) will implement the Capital Gains Tax starting January 1, 2024 to after being deferred three times as industrial players warn that the implementation might have some negative impact on the property market growth, which is down due to the economic downturn.