Syed Suhail Bin Syed Zin, a Singaporean who was originally scheduled to hang on Friday, Sep. 18, has had his execution put on hold.
This was revealed by lawyer M Ravi, who is working on the case pro bono, in a Facebook post on Thursday, Sep. 17.
According to the post, the High Court has allowed Suhail to put forward a further appeal relating to his case, and ordered an interim stay of execution.
The appeal papers were to be filed by 4pm today, but the Court of Appeal is not available to hear the appeal tomorrow.
Therefore, the hearing date for the appeal has yet to be confirmed, Ravi said.
What the appeal is about
Suhail was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death, in a judgment dated Jan. 26, 2016.
An appeal against this judgment was unsuccessful, according to the website of international nonprofit organisation Human Rights Watch.
This means that Suhail would no longer be able to appeal against his initial conviction and sentence.
However, M Ravi filed a judicial review application on Sep. 16, on the grounds that the order to execute Suhail went against his constitutional rights, according to a Facebook post by M Ravi.
That application was heard in the High Court this morning, Sep. 17, and dismissed.
M Ravi's most recent appeal is essentially asking the Court of Appeal to overrule the Sep. 17 decision to dismiss the judicial review application.
Interest in Suhail's case
Suhail's case gained traction online after news broke of his impending execution.
A petition on change.org gained almost 15,000 signatures in just over 12 hours since it was started on Sep. 17.
It was addressed to President Halimah Yacob, urging her to exercise her presidential powers to either grant clemency to Suhail, or to grant a stay of execution for the judicial review application to be reviewed thoroughly, and to allow Suhail's family to visit him before his execution.
Handwritten appeal
In a handwritten letter to M Ravi dated Sep. 15, Suhail explained that he had relatives in Malaysia who had been unable to visit him due to Covid-19 movement restrictions.
Thus, the resumption of judicial executions at the present time, he said, was an "entirely new level of cruelty" which he said had greater impact on his loved ones, "even though it is directed at me".
He also said that his citizenship status as a Singaporean had expedited his execution, given that the execution of foreigners has apparently been deferred, a point that M Ravi had also mentioned in his Facebook posts.
"I dream for better days because hope is my only possession," he wrote.
Image via M Ravi on Facebook.
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Top photo via M Ravi on Facebook