KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — Malaysia will plead for clemency for 22-year-old Sabahan Yong Vui Kong who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman told reporters in Parliament today that the Malaysian government sympathised with Yong’s case and pledged to use every diplomatic channel to help the man.
“We will do whatever we can within our power. Based on the information I received, there is only one avenue left, which is to plead for clemency.
“I will write to the government of Singapore and plead with them on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
Anifah, however, said he would first wait for the legal aspects of Yong’s case to be presented to him by the man’s lawyer before writing to the Singapore government.
“There will be a need to give legal basis on why he should be spared,” he said.
The Malaysian government, through its appeal for clemency with the Singapore government, hopes to commute Yong’s sentence to life imprisonment.
Yong was arrested on June 13, 2007 in Singapore and was later charged with trafficking 47.27g of a controlled drug, diamorphine, an offence under section 5(1)(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
He was convicted on Jan 7, 2009, and sentenced to death.
The man appealed the decision but later withdrew his appeal and attempted to file a petition for clemency to the President of Singapore instead.
The appeal was rejected. Four days before his execution date, Yong’s counsel M. Ravi filed an application in the court for leave to pursue the appeal and a stay of execution was obtained.
Despite this, following the hearing of the application, Yong’s case was finally dismissed on May 14 this year.
He faces the gallows by the end of next month if all legal and diplomatic channels to commute his sentence are exhausted.
Yong’s case was taken up by PKR MP Chua Tian Chang who, along with Ravi and a Suaram representative, met Anifah late this afternoon to discuss the available options to save the man.
“He (Anifah) had also brought in several officers during the meeting, including international legal experts. Anifah said he would write a letter, through diplomatic avenues, and seek clemency on humanitarian grounds.
“He also said the ministry would send a watching brief to witness the trial (judicial review application),” Chua said.
He noted that this was a clear indication that the government was committed to monitoring the case.
Ravi said he would be filing the judicial review on the case in Singapore by next week.
The lawyer added that he was pleased that Anifah had not only agreed to use diplomatic avenues to appeal for Yong’s pardon but was also willing to look into the legal aspects of the case.
“I am encouraged by the fact that the foreign minister has taken into account the legal issue I was highlighting. It is a matter of pleading with the Singapore government through diplomatic channels, but it is also a fact that Yong is facing injustice in Singapore in the law because the clemency process itself is already flawed,” he said.
Ravi said he would prepare the information on the legal aspect of the case for Anifah’s perusal soon.
He noted that the international law expert present during the meeting had pledged to look into the possibility of bringing the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“However, this is only after all local avenues have been exhausted,” he said.
