Malaysian K Datchinamurthy is scheduled to be executed in Singapore this Thursday for smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into the city-state.
In a Facebook post, Singaporean activist and former lawyer M Ravi said he received a copy of a notice from the prison service informing him of the execution date.
In the copy of the notice, the Singapore Prison Service said extended visits would be allowed for Datchinamurthy until Sept 24.
“Datchinamurthy is one of the gentlest souls I have ever met. His kindness and quiet dignity stayed with me long after our meetings ended,” Ravi said.
He added that Datchinamurthy’s case had revealed how fragile due process can be.
“The prison authorities once forwarded his confidential correspondence to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, a breach of prisoner rights that the court later ruled unlawful. Yet he will still be put to death,” he said.
“I grieve for Datchinamurthy, for his mother, and for every family forced to endure this.”
Datchinamurthy was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to death in 2015. He was scheduled to be executed in 2022 but obtained a stay of execution pending a legal suit against the Singapore government over his death sentence.
He is one of four Malaysians on death row in Singapore whom the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia mentioned earlier this month in urging the government to intervene in their executions.
The other three are P Pannir Selvam, S Saminathan and R Lingkesvaran.
In January 2024, the Singapore High Court dismissed applications by two King’s Counsel to represent Saminathan, Datchinamurthy, and Lingkesvaran in their appeals against their convictions and sentences.
According to the Straits Times, the court dismissed the bids by Theodoros Kassimatis from Australia and Edward Fitzgerald from Britain, who sought to be admitted to the Singapore Bar on an ad hoc basis to act for the convicts.
