Feb. 23
MALAYSIA:
Execution Date Set For Malaysian Brothers (Malaysia: UA 53/17)
Urgent Action
February 23, 2017
Suthar Batumalai and B. Rames Batumalai are scheduled to be executed on Friday,
24 February 2017. The brothers were convicted of murder in 2010 on the basis of
circumstantial evidence and sentenced to the mandatory death penalty.
Suthar Batumalai and B. Rames Batumalai are brothers facing execution by
hanging in Malaysia on 24 February 2017. They were sentenced to the mandatory
death penalty in April 2010 under section 302 of the Penal Code after they were
found guilty of a murder committed on 4 February 2006. On 22 February 2017 the
pair were moved, from their two separate detention facilities, to Kajang
prison, Selangor State, where the executions will take place. A new clemency
petition has been submitted for the consideration of the Sultan and Parole
Board on 23 February.
The brothers, who were represented at trial by the same lawyer, were convicted
on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone. During the trial they claimed
that they had intervened to stop two other men from attacking and killing the
deceased, claims which were disregarded by the High Court. The Court also
failed to call a key witness, the deceased’s wife, to testify. Her testimony
could have corroborated the brothers’ version of the facts, and the involvement
of the two other men in the murder. The police had also failed to take blood
samples and fingerprint samples to establish a direct link to the accused, as
it stated it was not crucial and the identity of the accused had been
confirmed. The final sentence was handed out on 30 October 2012 by the Federal
Court.
The 1984 UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing
the death penalty provide that the death penalty be imposed “only when the
guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving
no room for an alternative explanation of the facts.”
1) TAKE ACTION
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
• Immediately take all the necessary steps to halt the execution of Suthar and
B. Rames Batumalai , and to accept their new clemency appeal;
• Immediately establish a moratorium on executions and commute all death
sentence as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty;
• Move forward with legislative reforms on the mandatory death penalty and
abolish this punishment from national legislation.
Contact these two officials by 6 April, 2017:
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Mohd Najib Razak
Office of The Prime Minister of Malaysia Main Block,
Perdana Putra Building Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya, Malaysia
Fax: +603-88883444 or +603-88883904
Email: p...@pmo.gov.my
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
H.E. Ambassador Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin
Embassy of Malaysia
3516 International Court, NW, Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 572 9882
Phone: 202 572 9700
Email: mwwashing...@kln.gov.my
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source: Amnesty International)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
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