.jpg "Prabagaran Srivijayanu00e2u20acu2122s mother Eswary Vengatasamy, pictured with lawyer N. Surendran (right), at the Duta court in Kuala Lumpur January 16, 2017. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Choo Choy May")
KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Malaysian citizen S. Prabagaran’s execution in Singapore has been scheduled next Friday despite his court application here to refer Singapore to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), his lawyers said today.
N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya called for a halt to the 29-year-old man’s scheduled execution, saying that his trial and conviction for drug trafficking were tainted by a breach of his right to a fair trial.
“Why is Singapore rushing the execution before the court proceedings in Malaysia are concluded?
“To carry out the execution despite the pending proceedings in Malaysia would be in breach of international law and would disregard Prabagaran's constitutional rights,” they said in a statement.
The lawyers pointed out that there was an application pending at the Malaysian Court of Appeal to refer Singapore to the ICJ for breach of the right to a fair trial, after their client failed last March to obtain leave from the High Court here for a judicial review to compel Malaysia to intervene by referring Singapore to the ICJ.
Surendran and Latheefa also said Singapore had denied their application to interview and to take instructions from their client in Changi prison.
“We call upon the government of Singapore to halt the execution, and allow us immediate access to Prabagaran as his duly appointed lawyers acting in the pending Malaysian proceedings,” they said.
