Drug Trafficker Lives To 7 Oct After Court Extends Stay Of Execution Upon Appeal
The fight to save some 55 people from hanging carries on, and their lives continue to hang in the balance.
Convicted drug trafficker Syed Suhail, who was initially scheduled for execution on Friday (18 Sep), managed to extend his stay of execution to after Thursday (8 Oct).
This decisions follows an ‘intense’ appeal by his lawyer, M Ravi in front of the Court of Appeal today (22 Sep), which successfully bought him time.
However, another battle awaits Mr Ravi as another inmate, Mohd Fadzil, is scheduled for execution on Thursday (24 Sep).
Court extends stay of execution of drug trafficker
The appeal held today was billed as Syed’s last chance at life.
What should’ve been his execution was delayed thanks to the intervention of Mr Ravi, who took his case pro bono.
Through his efforts, and due to information he uncovered, he managed to successfully convince the court to extend Syed’s stay of execution until at least 7 Oct.
The next hearing will be fixed on that date, which means Syed lives on until then.
His chance at life rests on the basis that his case was allegedly improperly handled, and his lawyer had to convince the court of this.
Also read:
S’pore Drug Trafficker’s Appeal Hearing On 22 Sep, Last Chance To Overturn Death Sentence
AGC obtained letter to lawyer from drug trafficker
Syed’s case took a twist when Mr Ravi found that Syed’s letters to his previous lawyer, Ramesh Tiwari, were delivered to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) in 2018.
The AGC are the prosecutors in his case, and having this information might give them an advantage.
Mr Ravi said that he’d make applications against the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), as well as the Singapore Prison Services during the hearing.
The court thus asked for more submissions and arguments from parties and pended another hearing for this.
Working on reopening Moad Fadzir’s case
Another Singaporean drug trafficker, 40-year-old Moad Fadzir, is scheduled to hang Thursday (24 Sep).
Like with Syed’s case, Mr Ravi is looking to reopen his case and attended a pre-trial conference today to do so.
Mr Ravi believes that his case is one of wrongful execution, after he reviewed it.
Death is irreversible
You might ask why people like M Ravi are fighting so hard for these convicts despite Singapore’s stance on drug trafficking.
For one, at least 1 case – Syed’s – is allegedly not handled lawfully.
Mr Ravi said there is hope of rectifying the situation precisely because Syed is still alive.
Death is irreversible, as Mr Ravi says. Everyone deserves a fair chance before the law, no matter your thoughts on the death penalty.
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