Prabagan Srivijayan on the We Believe in Second Chances Facebook pageIn the summer of 2012, Singapore handed 29-year-old Malaysian Prabagan Srivijayan a mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking after 22.24g of heroin was found in the armrest of a car he had borrowed.
Serious concerns about the fairness of Prabagan’s trial included the authorities’ failure to follow up leads that could have proven his innocence, and to call on key witnesses who could confirm his version of events. His fingerprints were never found on the drugs. Eventually, his legal team turned to the Malaysian courts to appeal on the basis that his trial had been unfair. But his execution went ahead without waiting for the outcome of the proceedings. Prabagan maintained his innocence until the day he was executed. He was hanged almost exactly 5 years from the date of his conviction, on 14 July 2017.
Singapore has shocked the world with two more executions for drug offences in the past seven days. On Friday 9 March 2018, 39 year-old Ghanian Billy Agbozo was executed for drug trafficking, following the failure of his final plea for clemency. This morning, Singapore executed Hishamrudin Bin Mohd, a 59 year-old Singaporean man found guilty of possessing 34.94 grams of diamorphine for the purpose of trafficking. According to Amnesty International, Hishamrudin Bin Mohd maintained his innocence throughout his arrest and trial and claims that proceedings against him were unfair. His final appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court yesterday.
