Kalwant Singh, A Malaysian Drug Trafficker Ahead For His Execution In Less Than A Week

One after one!

After spending 9 years behind the bars, the Singaporean rights activist Kirsten Han stated that Kalwant Singh has slated for his execution next Thursday (7th July 2022) in Changi Prison, Singapore.

Born and bred in Cameron Highlands, the Malaysian drug trafficker was arrested when he was 23 years old for allegedly trafficking 60.15g of diamorphine to Singapore. According to a statement released by Lawyers for Liberty, the 32-year-old detainee was convicted mainly on the testimony of a co-accused person, who claims that he never knew that the bundles he was carrying contained drugs.

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Having said that, Kirsten Han who has been vocal against Singapore’s use of the death penalty, said that this was the sixth notice of execution given thus far this year.

Prominent rights lawyer M Ravi meanwhile called on the government to “halt its execution binge” and to impose a moratorium on all future executions as the court was looking into a breach of confidentiality by the prison authorities in forwarding privileged and confidential correspondence to the attorney-general.

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“This would then mean that the administration of justice concerning the death penalty has been brought into disrepute, thereby declaring all executions unconstitutional,” Ravi started in his Facebook post.

According to Pearls and Irritations, on 14th November, 2012, the Singapore Parliament approved the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2012 (Act 30 of 2012). The new amendments granted the court the authority to sentence a person guilty of a capital drug offence to life in prison in the following situations:

Where the person was merely a courier and they had been issued with a certificate of substantive assistance by the public prosecutor; or
Where the person was merely a courier and they were suffering from an “abnormality of the mind”.

In April 2022, Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, the 34-year-old disabled Malaysian man was executed at Changi Prison. Despite filing multiple appeals against his execution and some last minute legal challenge in Singapore’s Court of Appeal, the execution has taken place without any mercy.

Nagaenthran was caught at the age of 21 after being convicted of drug smuggling for crossing into Singapore from Malaysia with 43g (1.5oz) heroin strapped onto his left thigh in 2009.

During his trial, he initially said he was coerced into carrying the drugs, but later said he had committed the offence because he needed money. The court said his initial defence was “fabricated”. He was eventually sentenced to death by hanging. In 2015, he appealed to have his sentence commuted to life in prison on the basis that he suffered from an intellectual disability.

The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign initiates its effort to stop Kalwant Singh’s execution and urges on the local, national, and international community—including the UN—to bring up the aforementioned concern in an appeal to the Singapore government to put a stop to the execution on Thursday.