In Jan 2009, a Malaysian man, Mr.Yong Vui Kong, was sentenced to death for drug trafficking. Under Singapore’s tough drug law, the death penalty is mandatory for trafficking of more than 30 grams of heroin. As Yong was caught with 47 grams of heroin, he was sentenced to death.
There had been a campaign, mostly on the internet, to appeal against Mr. Yong’s death sentence. Last week, the Singapore Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against his mandatory death sentence.
Now I do not know Mr. Yong personally, but frankly I am unsurprised by this decision. Under Singapore’s law, the death penalty is mandatory if you are caught with more than 30 grams of heroin. The prosecution does not have to prove that the drugs are for trafficking and the judge do not have any discretion to hand down any alternative sentences.
In Mr. Yong’s case, everything is done according to the law and seemingly by the book so the dismissal of his appeal was unsurprising. The internet campaign for Mr. Yong is heartwarming but futile because the Singapore law is very clear-cut on this matter.
Despite what activists say about how the law violate international human rights law, the fact is Singapore’s tough drug laws are popular in the country and changes are not coming anytime soon. I’m sorry a man is about to die but in Mr. Yong’s case, the law was applied and few complains can be made about the process.
6 comments:
Are you sure the limit for heroin is 30g for mandatory death sentence ?
I thought it was 15g, which makes me wonder why some NMP's son was only charged with 14.99g, to let him off the hook ?
I'm not so sure as I'm no lawyer but I believe it depend on what drugs you are caught with. For heroin, it is 30g
Heroin is the hardest drug. The 15 gm can't be any other.
maybe he wasn't facing the death penalty but a more serious charge. From what I checked, for heroin it is 30g
For Heroin, 15g is enough to get you the death penalty. You can check this up in the Second Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act (where the term "diamorphine" is used to refer to Heroin).
I'm not so sure that there is popular support for the mandatory death penalty. Certainly no proper survey has been done. If you talk to the people around you, and explain to them what "mandatory" means, you're more likely to find that they do not support it.
Personally I do think that's one of the problem reguarding the internet campaign for Mr. Yong Vui Kong. The campaign seems to be arguing against the death penalty itself which most Singaporeans I speak to do support. I for one support the death penalty in Singapore.
The "mandatory" depends on the case and the offence which is correct. You can argue that the "mandatory death sentence" for heroin is too harsh, but arguing against the "mandatory death sentence" itself is counter-productive.
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