KOTA KINABALU, Feb 14 — Following a statement from the Malaysian Bar, more lawyers are urging Singapore’s president and prime minister to intervene and stop the execution of an intellectually-challenged Sabahan convicted of drug trafficking in 2010.
Sabah Law Society president Roger Chin said that they had co-signed two letters with the Advocates’ Association of Sarawak and the Bar of the States of Malaya, asking the president and the prime minister of the republic today to commute Pausi Jefridin’s death sentence scheduled for February 16.
“Our joint letter did not call for a review of the legal process in Pausi’s case. Our call to the Government of Singapore is in relation to exercising mercy.
“Singapore has signed and ratified the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). As such, it should give effect to commitments that it has made under the CRPD, including not executing people with intellectual disabilities,” the letter said.
Pausi is intellectually disabled, having been medically assessed to have an IQ level of 67.
The Singapore courts had decided that his intellectual capacity was not diminished, and that he was fully cognisant of his actions and fully appreciated their legal consequences. As such, there was no reason to disturb the finding of guilt and the imposition of the death penalty.
“Saving the life of Pausi is not about putting the life of an individual ahead of the legitimate concerns of society, but about promoting the values of humanity and forgiveness.
“Any system of justice that is deserving of respect is one that has space for compassion, forgiveness and mercy. More especially when it involves a person who has been medically diagnosed as being of impaired intellectual ability. That is what is needed at this time,” Chin said.
