Documento - Singapour. Nouvelle date d'exécution pour un Malaisien condamné
Further information on UA: 296/09 Index: ASA 36/005/2009 Singapore Date: 04 December 2009
URGENT ACTION
new execution date for condemned malaysian
Yong Vui Kong received a stay of execution on 3 December, but is now scheduled for execution on 11 December. His appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeals on 8 December.
Yong Vui Kong's lawyer has appealed on the grounds that the mandatory death sentence for drug-trafficking, which is set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act, is unconstitutional, and therefore his case should be referred back to the trial judge for "reconsideration."
The appeal was due to be heard by a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals on 2 December, but only one judge was present, so the court had to grant a stay of execution. The court, which rejected an earlier appeal against Yong Vui Kong's death sentence, is now due to hear his latest appeal on 8 December.
The President of Singapore rejected Yong Vui Kong's petition for clemency on 1 December.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Mandarin or your own language:
-
Urging the president to reconsider Yong Vui Kong’s clemency petition and commute his death sentence;
-
Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking offences, the court that sentenced Yong Vui Kong to death had no discretion to sentence him to an alternative punishment;
-
Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 DECEMBER 2009 TO:
President
His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
Singapore 0922
Fax: +65 6735 3135
Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Newspaper
Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
Singapore 318994
Fax: +65 6319 8282
Email: : stonline@sph.com.sg
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 296/09. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA36/004/2009/en
URGENT ACTION
new execution date for condemned malaysian
ADditional Information
The authorities in Singapore do not release any information about the use of the death penalty in the country. At least one person is known to have been hanged so far in 2009, and at least three sentenced to death; in 2008, at least one person was hanged and five sentenced to death. The true figures are likely to be higher. The government has always maintained that the death penalty is not a human rights issue, and consistently lobbied other nations against the abolition of the death penalty.
All capital cases are tried by the High Court; convicted prisoners can appeal, and if they are unsuccessful they can apply to the president for clemency. President Nathan, who has been in power since 1999, is not known to have granted clemency to any condemned prisoner.
Further information on UA: 295/09 Index: ASA 36/005/2009 Issue Date: 04 December 2009
