KUALA LUMPUR: The execution of Malaysian K. Datchinamurthy in Singapore has been halted.
The execution was initially scheduled to take place at Changi prison on Thursday morning (Sept 25).
Lawyer N. Surendran, who represents the inmate’s family, told an online portal that they received a call from the prison after midnight informing them of the matter.
“We have no further information at this point.
"We are praying for the best outcome,” he said.
Datchinamurthy, 39, was scheduled to be executed on Thursday (Sept 25) for smuggling around 45g of heroin into Singapore.
He was arrested in 2011 and later convicted of trafficking about 45 grams (1.6 ounces) of heroin into Singapore.
He was to be hanged in 2022 but won a last-minute reprieve pending a legal challenge that was dismissed by the court in August.
Singapore’s strict laws mandate the death penalty for anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin and 500 grams of cannabis.
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.
On Wednesday (Sept 24) night local non-governmental organisations held a candlelight vigil for Datchinamurthy outside the Singapore High Commission here.
