External News

PETALING JAYA: Lawyers and rights activists are at loggerheads over a Singapore minister’s remark that it is “untenable” to have a moratorium on Malaysians sentenced to death in Singapore courts for drug trafficking.

Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said Malaysian de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong’s appeal to exempt Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman from the death sentence showed he did not respect Singapore’s rule of law.

Commenting on this, criminal lawyer Rosal Azimin Ahmad said: “Such an act can be considered as an attempt to interfere with the process of law of another country. I disagree with (Liew’s) action.”

However, he told FMT an appeal on humanitarian grounds could still be made.

“Perhaps the minister can attach a written appeal from the family, which means the minister is acting on behalf of the family members for the consideration of the Singaporean government,” Rosal said.

But he noted it was not appropriate to ask another country to spare the death penalty imposed by its court as other people might use it as a precedent.

Lawyer Christina Teng, a staunch supporter of the death penalty, said Singapore was drug-free because the republic’s authorities were strict in upholding the rule of law and protecting the interest of the public.

“That should actually take priority for them, before anything else,” she said, adding that Putrajaya “had the freedom to ask” but there was a need to “look at the bigger picture”.

Shanmugam had said: “It is not tenable to give a special moratorium to Malaysians, and impose it on everyone else, including Singaporeans who commit offences which carry the death penalty.

“Let me be quite clear, it’s not possible for us to do so, regardless of how many requests we receive.”

The issue cropped up after a stay of execution was given to Pannir, who was sentenced to death in 2017 for drug trafficking in 2014, on the back of appeals from Putrajaya to spare him the gallows.

However, not everyone has thrown in their support for Shanmugam’s stand.

Petaling Jaya MP and human rights activist Maria Chin Abdullah said sparing Pannir’s life was not going against the Singaporean rule of law.

“The death penalty is an unusual and cruel form of punishment and hence runs contrary to justice, rights and freedom,” she said.

“It is also a fact that the death penalty is not a deterrent against trafficking and heinous crimes.”

She said if the death penalty, as claimed by Shanmugam, was an effective deterrent, then there should not be a need to discuss Pannir’s case or other drug trafficking cases today as they would not exist.

“Clearly, the death penalty does not work and more substantive and preventive measures are required to eliminate drug-related crimes,” she said.

Maria also told FMT it was disconcerting that Shanmugam appeared to ridicule what she said was a “compassionate appeal” from Liew and label it as “ideological”.

“This is discourteous and ungracious of minister Shanmugam to treat another fellow diplomat in such a dismissive manner,” she said.

“Our law minister is not asking for special treatment for Malaysian detainees on death row. This compassionate appeal is not a green light for drug trafficking.

“Pannir’s offence can still and should be dealt with under different existing laws, especially for drug mules.”

She said she had always been against corporal and capital punishment and believed in the right to life and to live.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia acting chairman Jerald Joseph said Malaysia and Singapore should move away from the death penalty as a means of punishment.

“Why not start the conversation and open up this discourse?” he asked.

“While it’s not a quick and easy decision for a government, the call by advocates from our side of the causeway is reason enough to have more discussions and be open to other considerations when handling drug trafficking cases.

“We don’t see that as backing down on the rule of law.”

He also pointed out that the rule of law included considerations of natural justice and looking at other alternatives when there was a possibility that did not downplay the punitive nature needed for offences committed.

“I am sure a reconsideration of the death penalty could be a way forward in these modern times as society moves away from archaic methods.”

Jerald said citizens of other Asean countries would welcome such a move.

“This is one penalty that has no U-turn and has an impact on one’s right of life,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 ― A former telecommunications company (telco) chief executive was arrested for allegedly trespassing before threatening his ex-wife and her family last week, The Star reported today.

He was arrested last Thursday at the Hulu Kelang police station after the trespass where he even issued a death threat, but was subsequently released on police bail last Sunday.

However, the arrest only revealed a history of abuse and sexual misconduct that was traced back as far as 2015, according to the report.

The English news daily said it has learned that 15 police reports have been filed against him over the years by his ex-wife for allegedly molesting his own children.

Bukit Aman Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) principal assistant director Asst Comm Choo Lily confirmed the police had investigated those previous reports, however, they were classified for “no further action” (NFA) after consultation with the deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) involved.

“Some of these cases were classified as NFA by the DPP due to lack of evidence. Others were mainly reports over custody of their children.

“But if there is any new evidence or allegations, of course, the case would be re-looked at,” she said.

Citing a previous police report lodge in 2017, the D11 section had applied for an interim protection order for the ex-wife and their children under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

The interim protection order was granted on November 14, 2017, by a Magistrate’s Court in Kuala Lumpur, however, that order expired last December.

Subsequently, the Social Welfare Department also confirmed to The Star that their probe into the case was classified as NFA in March this year as they have completed their investigations.

Following their divorce, both parents have joint custody of their two daughters and their son.

The case started back in 2015 when the mother had brought the children to a licensed counsellor, where the children had explained explicitly some of the things that their father had done to them.

Following the session, counsellor Nicholas Wong Kah Peng had advised the mother to lodge a police report following after hearing the account of her two daughters, who were aged eight and 10 at the time.

Following the session, Wong also filed an affidavit with the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court and stated that he was ready to testify in court, as he had a responsibility under the law to report any immoral activities done to children.

According to Wong’s testimony on the couple’s custody hearing on May 8, 2015, the 10-year-old daughter had told him that her father had come to lay next to her in bed and subsequently put her hands on her penis.

This alleged act had woke her up and when she told her father that it made her uncomfortable, her father asked her to keep it a secret.

In September 2015, the ex-wife lodged another police report at the Pantai police station, stating that the younger daughter had complained of abdominal pain and nausea to a nurse at the international school she was attending.

Following her complained, the child was brought to Pantai Hospital for medical examinations. and was then referred to the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) for further tests where the mother was advised to lodge the police report the child was suspected to had been molested by an “unknown person”.

Another report was lodged in 2017 again by the mother as her daughters had complained that their father had allegedly molested them in various locations and even at his home.

Another report was also lodged last November after the son alleged that the father had forced him to sleep in the nude together.

The Star also learned that the two girls are currently still staying with their father, while the boy is with the mother.

The English news daily had also reached out to the former telco head however at the time of writing, there has been no response.

JOHOR BARU, May 25 ― Having been in politics for 44 years, Datuk Osman Sapian never dreamed that someday he would become Johor mentri besar.

For three terms from 1999 to 2013, he was Kempas assemblyman as a Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate.

Having left Umno and contesting under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner at the 2018 general election, Osman caused a shock when he was elected Johor mentri besar following BN’s shocking loss in the southern state. 

Osman, however, resigned as the new Johor mentri besar after 11 months holding the position.

“During the GE14, I did not want to contest although I was the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM)  secretary,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama recently.

“(At that time),I wanted to make sure Pakatan Harapan could win seats and possibly change the state and the federal government.

“But, we were a relatively new party and was lacking in leaders with calibre, experience and somewhat influential, so I was asked to choose a seat to contest,” he said.

He thought, if PH were to win the Federal level, it would be up to the top brass to put him anywhere they saw fit.

“At the very least, I would have accepted a post in any GLCs or a general consulate, you know as a gesture of appreciation,” said Osman.

In his early days, Osman harboured hopes of becoming a general consulate that is based overseas due to his keen interest in bilateral relations.

“Despite being a state assemblyman for three terms with Umno previously, I never dreamed of being given the mentri besar post. In fact, I had never held a post in the state exco,” he said.

He explained that after joining Bersatu, he focused mainly on getting the party grass roots to prepare for the GE14.

“It is no mean feat for a new coalition without solid financial support to go up against Umno and Barisan Nasional which have had a stronghold of the state but we did it,” he said.

His next challenge was to lead an exco with no previous experience whatsoever in the state.

“Most of our exco members had no experience, if anything most of them were assemblymen when they were the Opposition.

“They never had the experience to work as assemblymen for the government so to change their mindset was very challenging,” said Osman who held several posts in Johor GLCs.

“Therefore it was my duty to teach them and show how it is done so that they would understand their job better after all it is a brand new government,” Osman explained.

Despite being the shortest-serving Johor MB in the history of the state, Osman has achieved quite a lot in the 11 months.

As MB, Osman has helped strengthen the state’s financial position through various plans with the support and cooperation of the state’s public administration.

He also achieved 10 of the 100-day promise of Pakatan Harapan Johor and continued the initiative by drawing up a long-term development plan for Johor (Johor’s Sustainable Development Plan 2019-2030).

He was also responsible for disposing of bad debts of the state government to the Federation by RM187 million or 57 per cent of the total.

“In 100 days, I managed to implement the PH manifesto. I also paid visits, bringing along Exco members to the districts to meet the district officers to help facilitate their work, besides looking at PH course of direction in the state.

“In the meantime, the pile of work left by the previous government had to be resolved. For a year they did not come to office because they were busy campaigning so I had to manage the backlog.

“All kinds of files were left unattended to for a year of changing conditions, changing land titles, buying land, buying homes it was equivalent to 17 months pile of work.

Asked about his resignation on April 8, the former mentri besar said he had taken a week to consider his decision to resign.

Refusing to divulge specifically on the reasons for doing so, Osman said,” (Resigning) That was the best thing for me to do. Otherwise, it would have tarnished my personal reputation and the political scenario in Johor.”

While he was grateful to have been given the chance on the “hot seat”, the Kempas assemblyman hoped his successor Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal would carry out his duty the best he could. ― Bernama