Court dismisses Malaysian’s latest death sentence appeal
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the latest appeal made by 23-year-old Malaysian national, Yong Vui Kong, for his execution to be stayed.
Yong, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2007, had been due to hang in January 2009. Since then, he's been the focus of a growing human rights campaign, both in Singapore and Malaysia, to save his life and give him a second chance.
In the latest development, the hearing held on Monday afternoon was presided by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, Justice Andrew Phang and Justice VK Rajah.
On 17 Jan this year, Vui Kong's lawyer, M. Ravi, made an appeal for his client's execution to be stayed on the grounds that he had been denied a fair clemency process. But after more than 3 hours in court, the judges decided to reserve judgment to consider the case further.
The lawyer had then also called for a judicial review of the clemency plea which was dismissed in May last year.
Mr. Ravi argued in court that the process had been prejudiced by public statements made by Law Minister K Shanmugam and his ministry even before his client's plea had been filed.
Yong was still awaiting for the outcome of his clemency appeal to President S.R. Nathan when the minister spoke publicly about his case in May.
He had said at the time, "Yong Vui Kong is young. But if we say 'We let you go', what is the signal we are sending?"
"We (would be) sending a signal to all drug barons out there: Just make sure to choose a victim who is young or a mother of a young child and use them as the people to carry the drugs into Singapore."
In June 2007, Vui Kong, a native from Sabah, was arrested and subsequently charged with trafficking 47.27 grams of heroin under the Misuse of Drugs Act. He was then only 19-years-old.
A Facebook page titled "Save Yong Vui Kong!" has already garnered more than 23, ooo 'likes' with users posting messages of support to the Malaysian.
Among others, one user known as Rachel Ho posted her comments on the page saying, "We sincerely hope Yong would be given a second chance to repent from his mistake. Prayers shall goes along with you, Yong Vui Kong".
Yong is currently on death row and awaiting his execution at Singapore's Changi Prison.
This case, which is keenly being observed by human rights watchdogs and international media, is seen as a test for Singapore's capital punishment laws.
