PETALING JAYA: A 33-year-old Malaysian has been executed in Singapore for trafficking 52.77g of diamorphine into the island republic.
In a statement issued by the Central Narcotics Bureau Thursday (Feb 12), it said R. Lingkesvaran was executed on Wednesday (Feb 11).
"Lingkesvaran was convicted and sentenced to death on Oct 15, 2018 for smuggling drugs into the city-state.
"The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine trafficked is more than 15g," it said, adding that the drugs were sufficient to feed about 630 drug abusers for a week.
The bureau said that Lingkesvaran was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel during his trial and appeal.
"He appealed against his conviction and sentence but it was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on March 27, 2019.
"Following the dismissal of his appeal, Lingkesvaran was involved in eight post-appeal applications," it said, adding that all applications were dismissed or resolved.
It also said that Lingkesvaran’s petitions to the Singapore President for clemency were unsuccessful.
"After Lingkesvaran was notified that his execution was scheduled to take place on Feb 11, his instructed counsel filed a civil suit on Feb 9, alleging wrongful acts done or neglect committed by public officers within the Singapore Prison Service, purportedly in breach of the Prisons Act and the Prisons Regulations.
"On Feb 9, Lingkesvaran’s instructed counsel also applied for a stay of execution of his sentence pending the civil suit but the Court of Appeal rejected the application for a stay of execution," it said.
"As Lingkesvaran was not granted a stay of execution or an order of respite, and there were no relevant pending proceedings that would affect his conviction and sentence, the death sentence was duly carried out in accordance with the law.
"Capital punishment is imposed only for the most serious crimes, such as trafficking significant quantities of drugs which cause very serious harm, not just to individual drug abusers, but also to their families and the wider society," it added.
