After painful execution mentally-disabled Nagaenthran, another Malaysian – Datchinamurthy Kataiah – is making last-ditch attempts his death penalty to be reduced to a lower sentence today. Datchinamurthy Kataiah is scheduled to be hanged tomorrow. Datchinamurthy Kataiah, notably, is fighting his case without a lawyer. He has asked for his execution to stay, on grounds that he has a legal challenge pending for May 20.
Charges on Datchinamurthy Kataiah
Datchinamurthy was found guilty of trafficking 45g of heroin into Singapore. The court sentenced him to death for trafficking 45g of heroin across the Woodlands Checkpoint from Malaysia in January 2011. Datchumirthy was sentenced to death in the year 2015.
Why Datchinamurthy Kataiah is not able to find a lawyer?
Most reports in this regard suggest that no lawyer in the island nation wants to represent likes of Datchinamurthy Kataiah as they fear counter-actions by the government. For example, noted Singapore lawyer M Ravi had earlier represented Datchinamurthy. However, M Ravi is not taking up Datchinamurthy’s case anymore as he now faces several actions brought by the state.
Datchinamurthy Kataiah’s last appeal was brouhght-in by his mother, who too faced serious warnings from the state’s Attorney-General’s Chambers later. The chambers said that they would take action against people who would cite “false allegations” contained in Panchalai Supermaniam’s (Datchinamurthy’s mother) affidavit for contempt.
“The AGC takes a serious view of any act that may constitute contempt, and will not hesitate to take appropriate action to protect the administration of justice,” it said.