A 29-year-old Indian-origin man from Malaysia was executed in Singapore on Friday for smuggling drugs, even though the United Nations and other human rights groups had called for the government to stop the capital punishment.
Prabagaran Srivijayan was sentenced to death by a Singapore court in 2014, after he was caught with 22.24 grams of diamorphine drug while entering the country. Srivijayan was arrested in April of 2014 at Woodlands Checkpoint in the main causeway to southern Peninsular Malaysia.
The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), in a statement, said two packets of the drug were recovered from his vehicle.
The CNB said Srivijayan's execution was conducted at Singapore's Changi Prison Complex.
Srivijayan's lawyer, Choo Zheng Xi, had asked the Singapore apex court on Thursday to put a stay on his execution on the grounds that his appeal in Malaysia was still pending. The request was made by the lawyer on instructions from Srivijayan's family.
Srivijayan had a pending appeal before the Malaysian Court of Appeal to institute proceedings against Singapore in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
However, the Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin, Andrew Phang and Tay Yong Kwang said the attempt to stop Srivijayan's execution because of proceedings in another country is "an abuse of process".
"The judiciary of each country is entitled to act in accordance with its Constitution and its laws," The Channel News Asia quoted Judge Chao as saying.
"No judiciary of one country interferes in the judicial process of another country," he said.
Amnesty International had expressed concerns about the fairness of the trial. The rights group had also mentioned the alleged failure of the authorities "to follow up leads and call on key witnesses that would corroborate his version of events".
Drug-related offences do not fall under the threshold of 'most serious crimes'. Furthermore, under domestic law, the death penalty is not mandatory for drug-related offences," the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) said.
