Court dismisses judicial leave application by two Msians facing death row in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed an application for leave for judicial reviews by two Malaysians, who are facing the gallows for drug trafficking convictions in Singapore.
Both S. Prabagaran and K. Datchinamuthy are seeking for an order for the Malaysian government to refer Singapore to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on grounds that they were denied a fair trial.
“The court dismissed the application saying this matter relates to foreign policy and the court has no jurisdiction to interfere,” said lawyer N. Surendran.
He said High Court judge Datuk Hanipah Farikullah dismissed the application for leave with no order as to cost in chambers.
Surendran told reporters that the defence would be filing an appeal.
On Jan 16, 2017, Prabagaran and his mother, V. Eswary, 55, filed a judicial review application, naming the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Malaysian government as respondents.
They are seeking for a declaration that the respondents are legally obliged to protect and give effect to Prabagaran’s right to a fair trial and right to life and liberty.
They are also seeking for an order of “Mandamus”, to direct the respondents to institute proceedings against Singapore in the ICJ for appropriate reliefs including to annul the conviction and sentence, pursuant to Article 35, 36 and Article 41 of the Statute of the ICJ.
Prabagaran was convicted on July 22, 2014 in the Singapore High Court for trafficking 22.24g of “diamorphine”, an offence under Section 7 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).
On Sept 22, 2014, Prabagaran was sentenced to death under Section 33 of the MDA and appealed to the Singapore Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal on Oct 2, 2015.
Datchinamurthy was arrested for trafficking 44.96g of “diamorphine” on Nov 18, 2011 with a Singaporean woman.
Both were jointly charged in the Singapore High Court under Section 5(1)(a) of the MDA.
The Singaporean was sentenced to life imprisonment while Datchinamurthy was sentenced to death.