Tearful Vigil For Kalwant Outside Singapore Consulate

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An emotional candlelight vigil was held outside of the High Commission of Singapore tonight.
The vigil, co-organised by Amnesty International, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan), and Suaram, was held to protest Kalwant Singh Jogindar Singh’s execution, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Around 20 protesters lined up outside the embassy to urge the Singaporean government to spare Kalwant’s life.
Also present were five to 10 members of the police, who were seen recording details of some of the participants.
One participant - a family friend to Kalwant and the sister of another Singapore death row inmate Pannir Selvam Pranthaman - broke into tears as she called for the republic to stop the execution.
“I beg Singapore, please stop the execution of Kalwant Singh, and I beg Malaysia to do something to stop the execution,” Angelia Pranthaman said between sobs.
Kalwant, 31, was arrested in 2013 for trafficking 120.9g worth of diamorphine into Singapore, before being sentenced to death in 2016.
The sentence is to be carried out tomorrow after Singapore’s Court of Appeal dismissed his final bid to stay the execution this morning.
Death row inmate Kalwant SinghAdpan executive director Dobby Chew demanded Singapore explain why the people it is looking to execute are not drug lords, but lowly drug mules.
“These are the people who Singapore want to execute, not the drug kingpins, but the drug couriers, mules, low-level players, those who are victimised,” he said.
Describing the country’s death penalty laws as “ridiculous”, he added that the “city-state is executing for no other reason but to show that they can.”
‘Reconsider capital punishment’
Meanwhile, Amnesty International researcher Brian Yap urged Singapore to reconsider its stance on capital punishment.
“International human rights law prohibits the use of the death penalty for cases like drug trafficking, but we can see that Singapore have no hesitation in carrying it out,” he said.
Another protester, Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said Singapore is one of few countries in the world with such strong enforcement of the death penalty.
“(In a time) when the whole world was moving slowly towards the abolishment of the death penalty, Singapore should be ashamed for continuing to execute people with the death penalty.
“Singapore keeps setting a bad example by executing people every other day,” said Sevan.
Both Yap and Sevan called for the Singaporean government to repeal the death penalty, while also calling for the Malaysian government to push the Singaporean government to stop the executions.
The crowd dispersed at around 8.40pm, about 30 minutes after the vigil started. - Mkini

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