SINGAPORE, April 28 — The Singapore High Court today granted the stay of execution for Malaysian Datchinamurthy Kataiah, who was supposed to be executed on Friday, April 29, just two days after the execution of another Malaysia Nagaenthran Dharmalingam.
According to Singapore lawyer M Ravi, the stay was allowed “pending the outcome of the hearing of his prison correspondence misconduct legal challenge to be heard on May 20.”
“Datch (Datchinamurthy) was supposed to be hanged tomorrow,” said M Ravi in his latest update on Facebook.
Datchinamurthy, 36, was charged with trafficking 44.96g of diamorphine into Singapore in 2011 and sentenced to death in 2015, while Nagaenthran was sentenced to death in 2010 for trafficking 42.72g heroin in 2009 into Singapore which is known to have among the world’s toughest narcotics laws.
His family had recently received notice that his execution was scheduled for April 29.
Datchinamurthy’s stay of execution application was filed by himself and carried out in a close door hearing at 9.30am today.
M Ravi, who previously represented him, in another posting, said the May 20’s proceeding is “in regard to the prison sending to the Attorney General his privileged communications with his lawyers.”
“An application has been filed by our firm previously to determine the extent of the breach by the prison.
The question before the court is can they hang him this Friday when he has a hearing date fixed on the case to be heard on 20th May,” he wrote.
— Bernama
