A human rights lawyer tonight praised two previous prime ministers for their efforts to halt the executions of Malaysians convicted of drug charges in Singapore.
“Tun (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) and Ismail Sabri (Yaakob) had appealed (to the Singapore government),” N Surendran, a former MP, said.
In 2018, during his second stint as prime minister, Mahathir had written to the Singapore government asking for a stay of execution of P Prabu. Prabu was, however, executed.
A year later, then law minister Liew Vui Keong wrote to Singapore seeking clemency for P Pannir Selvam, who is presently on death row in Singapore.
In 2021, Ismail had written to his counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, appealing for leniency for KD Nagaenthran on “humanitarian grounds”. Nagaenthran was, however, executed the following year.
Surendran, an adviser to Lawyers for Liberty, described as “meaningful” the appeals made by Mahathir and…