Executed for selling cannabis: Rozman Jusoh from
Malaysia
Rozman Jusoh, a 24-year-old labourer from Malaysia, was arrested
allegedly after trying to sell 1.04 kg of cannabis to an undercover
officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau. In March 1995 he was
acquitted of the capital offence of drug trafficking after the
trial judge found him to have "sub-normal intelligence, with an IQ
of 74." Instead he was found guilty of the lesser offence of drug
possession and sentenced to a prison term. After the prosecution
filed an appeal, the appeal judge sentenced him to death, stating,
"He was educationally sub-normal but that does not absolve him from
his criminal deeds."(23) In an interview with Singapores New Paper
his mother said, "When someones talking to him, he would merely
smile or look at you blankly. I dont know how he ever made it
through to Secondary 3 in school." She said that the family had
planned to enrol him in religious classes and steer him back to the
"right path" once he was released from prison. Rozman Jusoh was
hanged in April 1996.
Shop assistant executed for drug trafficking: Poon
Yuen-chung from Hong Kong
Poon Yuen-chung, a shop assistant from Hong Kong, was only 18 years
old when she and her 17-year-old friend, Lam Hoi-ka were arrested
at Changi Airport, Singapore, after arriving from Bangkok. The two
girls had gone on holiday to Bangkok after telling their parents
they were going on a local camping trip. Airport officials found
heroin hidden in a secret compartment in their luggage. Both girls
denied any prior knowledge of the drugs and said they had been
befriended by a Chinese couple in Bangkok who had taken them out to
dinner and on sightseeing tours, and later bought suitcases for
them. "My sister is a simple and naïve girl who can do foolish
things sometimes", Poon Yuen-chungs sister later told the Sunday
Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper. Despite appeals for clemency,
Poon Yuen-chung was executed in April 1995. Her friend Lam Hoi-ka,
however, was sentenced to life imprisonment as she was under 18 at
the time of the offence.
Drug addict executed: Zulfikar Bin Mustaffah
Zulfikar Bin Mustaffah, aged 32, an unemployed Singaporean, was
sentenced to death in November 2000 after being arrested in
possession of a package containing approximately 70 grams of
heroin. He had allegedly agreed to deliver the package to a man he
did not know, but claimed that he was unaware of the contents.
Addicted to drugs since the age of 14, Zulfikar Bin Mustaffah
dropped out of school at 15 and had spent most of his life in drug
rehabilitation centres or in detention. Because drug addicts are
treated as criminals in Singapore, Zulfikar had a criminal record,
making it very difficult for him to find work. During a sitting of
parliament in July 2001, the then parliamentarian J.B. Jeyaretnam,
called for a parliamentary debate on the case, saying, "It is a
known fact that someone who is given to drug taking over a period
of time will have his mental faculties affected, his power to think
carefully and to rationalise. He becomes weak-minded and
particularly [...] vulnerable to people who try to use him or
exploit him."(24) Zulfikar Bin Mustaffah was hanged in September
2001.
Executed after denying involvement in a cannabis case:
Thiru Selvam
Thiru Selvam, a 28-year-old Singaporean father of two young
children, was arrested after a friend of his was found in
possession of approximately 800 grams of cannabis. The friend
reportedly told the police that the drugs belonged to Thiru Selvam.
At his trial the judge is said to have told him that if he
confessed he would be sentenced to 25 years in prison and 24
strokes of the cane. However Thiru Selvam reportedly refused to
confess and claimed he was innocent. He was sentenced to death in
September 2000, while his friend was given a 25-year prison
term.
Thiru Selvams mother died when he was a baby. His father remarried
but began drinking heavily and died when Thiru Selvam was only 16.
He began using drugs when he was 14 years old and was admitted to a
drug rehabilitation centre the following year. Thiru Selvam was
hanged in September 2001.
Executed after an unfair trial: Vignes s/o Mourthi(25) from
Malaysia
Vignes s/o Mourthi, a 23-year-old Malaysian national, grew up in a
poor family and received only basic education. He was arrested
while carrying a plastic bag containing approximately 27 grams of
heroin. At his trial he stated that he had been asked by an old
family friend, Moorthy A/L Angappan, to carry the bag from Malaysia
to Singapore, where he travelled every day for work. He insisted he
was unaware of the bags contents.
Amnesty International is concerned about a number of alleged
irregularities during the trial proceedings. The judge refused to
adjourn the trial hearing to grant Vignes s/o Mourthis request to
appoint a new lawyer, following his complaint that he was
inadequately represented. His conviction appears to have been based
largely on a written record, provided by the prosecution, of an
incriminating conversation which allegedly took place between him
and an officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau. Vignes s/o Mourth
denied the conversation took place. The court however deemed the
evidence to be admissible despite the fact that no date had been
recorded on it and neither Vignes s/o Mourthi nor his lawyer were
aware of its existence before it was produced in court.
Following rejection by the President of Vignes s/o Mourthis appeal
for clemency, his new lawyer, convinced of his innocence, lodged a
motion for a re-trial on the grounds that there had been a
miscarriage of justice and that he had not received a fair trial.
Two similar motions lodged by him were rejected. On 25 September
2003, Chief Justice Yong Pung How dismissed his final appeal for a
re-trial on the basis that the case could not be reopened as it had
already been dealt with by the courts. He reportedly told the
lawyer, "You can say he is an innocent man, but as far as the law
is concerned, he has been found guilty and convicted. You better
say goodbye to him, thats all you can do."(26) Vignes s/o Mourthi
and Moorthy A/L Angappan were hanged the following morning at dawn.
In a distressing scene following the execution, distraught family
members reportedly climbed onto the hearse carrying Vignes body
and pummelled his chest, trying to revive him.(27)
Executed for killing a man during an argument: Arunprakash
Vaithilingam from India
Arunprakash Vaithilingam, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Tamil
Nadu, India, went to work in Singapore as a ships electrician in
2000, sharing a cramped flat with several other migrant workers. He
was sentenced to death for killing one of his room-mates, who was
stabbed to death with a kitchen knife during a drunken argument. At
his trial Arunprakash Vaithilingam stated that he had not intended
to kill his room-mate and that initially he did not even realize he
had stabbed him. He and several friends who witnessed the argument
immediately rushed the wounded man to hospital but he was
pronounced dead shortly afterwards. Despite eyewitness evidence,
the High Court found him guilty of murder, which carries a
mandatory death sentence. Appeals for clemency lodged on his behalf
by the Government of India were rejected and he was hanged in
October 2003.