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Singapore has sentenced another Malaysian to death, this time a 39-year-old man, for trafficking heroin.

Munusamy Ramarmurth, a cleaning supervisor was caught with a bag containing drugs in his motorcycle parked along Harbourfront Avenue.

He was convicted by the High Court on Nov. 10 of being in possession of 6.3kg of a granular substance, The Straits Times reported.

Analysis revealed 57.54g of heroin was in the substance.

In Singapore, the death penalty applies if the amount of heroin trafficked is more than 15g.

42-page ruling

Justice Audrey Lim penned a 42-page written judgement to explain her decision to convict Munusamy and pass the mandatory death penalty on him.

She said she was not convinced about his argument that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones, ST reported.

She also disbelieved Munusamy's account that he allowed an acquaintance to temporarily store a bag in the rear box of his motorcycle for another man to collect it later.

About the case

Munusamy has worked in Singapore for 14 years.

He was arrested on Jan. 26, 2018, in the afternoon in the cleaners' room at Harbourfront Centre Tower 2 and escorted to his vehicle.

A red plastic bag was found in the rear box of his motorcycle parked at the open-air carpark at Keppel Bay Tower.

It contained bundles of drugs.

What accused claimed

Munusamy said during trial he had allowed another Malaysian, named Saravanan, to put the bag in the box for safekeeping.

Saravanan told him someone called "Boy" would collect it, the accused claimed, saying that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones.

This was because Saravanan and Boy had asked Munusamy to help store some stolen phones in the box back in July 2017.

Munusamy said Saravanan told him the items in the bag were "panas", a term which meant "stolen items", but can also refer to "illegal drugs".

Judge not convinced

Justice Lim concluded that Munusamy's story on the stand was a fabrication, calling it an "afterthought which emerged only at the trial".

In his statements to Central Narcotics Bureau, the judge noted, Munusamy made no mention of the alleged July 2017 incident or that the bag would be collected by someone.

She noted that the accused knew Saravanan was involved in drug activities, but did not check the contents of the bag.

Under Singapore law, it is up to the discretion of the court whether to impose the death penalty if a drug courier had substantively assisted CNB in disrupting drug activities and the prosecution certifies that to have been the case

Justice Lim said in her written judgement: "At the conclusion of the trial, I found that the Prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt the charge, and I convicted Munusamy on the charge."

"I found that Munusamy’s role in the offence was restricted to that of a courier."

"As the prosecution did not issue him with a certificate of substantive assistance... I passed the mandatory death sentence on him."

Trial controversy

But this trial was not conducted without controversy.

In her judgement, Justice Lim also reprimanded investigating officer Derek Wong for prompting a witness during the trial.

Wong had signalled to a witness, Mohammad Nasrulhaq, a police officer who was on the stand on two occasions.

On the first occasion, he picked up a field diary and showed it to Nasrulhaq when the latter was asked if the handover of the bag was recorded.

The second time was when Wong mouthed the word “diamorphine” when Nasrulhaq was asked what the term “heroin” referred to.

She said such conduct was “inappropriate and unacceptable”.

However, Lim noted that Wong’s conduct had not prejudiced Munusamy’s case.

The judge has directed the public prosecutor to raise the matter to the CNB to take appropriate measures.

Another Malaysian on death row:

Top photo via Singapore Prison Services & Unsplash

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