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 SingaporeÂ’s New Paper his mother said, "When someoneÂ’s talking to him, he would merely smile or look at you blankly. I donÂ’t 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-chung’s 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 SelvamÂ’s 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 bagÂ’s 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 MourthiÂ’s 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 MourthiÂ’s 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, thatÂ’s 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 VignesÂ’ 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 shipÂ’s 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.