Singapore Halts Execution Of Malaysian On Death Row

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Lawyers for Liberty adviser N Surendran says K Datchinamurthy’s family received a call from the prison after midnight, informing them of the matter.
K Datchinamurthy was scheduled to be executed today for smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into Singapore. (File pic)PETALING JAYA: The execution of Malaysian K Datchinamurthy in Singapore, initially scheduled to take place at Changi prison this morning, has been halted
Lawyer N Surendran, who represents the inmate’s family, said they received a call from the prison after midnight informing them of the matter.
“We have no further information at this point. We are praying for the best outcome,” he told FMT.
Datchinamurthy was scheduled to be executed today for smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into the city-state.
He was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to death in 2015. He was scheduled to be executed in 2022 but obtained a stay of execution pending a legal suit against the Singapore government over his death sentence.
He is one of four Malaysians on death row in Singapore whom the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia mentioned earlier this month in urging the government to intervene in their executions.
The other three are P Pannir Selvam, S Saminathan and R Lingkesvaran.
In January 2024, the Singapore High Court dismissed applications by two King’s Counsel to represent Saminathan, Datchinamurthy and Lingkesvaran in their appeals against their convictions and sentences.
According to the Straits Times, the court dismissed the bids by Theodoros Kassimatis from Australia and Edward Fitzgerald from Britain, who sought to be admitted to the Singapore Bar on an ad hoc basis to act for the convicts. - FMT

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