Malaysian Vui Kong death sentence reduced to life imprisonment and ..

Following Singapore's amendment of their drug laws, to escape the death penalty, the accussed needs to satisfy 2 conditions - (1) Must get a CERTIFICATE OF SUBSTANTIVE ASSISTANCE from the Attirney General's Chambers, and (2) prove on a balance of probabilities, that his involvement in the offence under section 5(1) or 7 was restricted — to transporting, sending or delivering a controlled drug; to offering to transport, send or deliver a controlled drug; to doing or offering to do any act preparatory to or for the purpose of his transporting, sending or delivering a controlled drug; or to any combination of activities above;

Hence, the Singapore AG (not the court) just has too much power to decide who is hanged and who lives.  

In the case of Vui Kong thankfully they gave him that 'Certificate of Substantive Assistance' in September, and now finally Vui Kong  has escaped being hanged to death... 

Published: Thursday November 14, 2013 MYT 12:09:00 PM
Updated: Thursday November 14, 2013 MYT 12:41:16 PM

Singapore spares Yong Vui Kong the noose, re-sentences him to life imprisonment, 15 strokes

by rashvinjeet s. bedi

PETALING JAYA: Yong Vui Kong, the Malaysian who has been in death row in Singapore since 2009 for drug trafficking, has been spared the noose.

He will now be imprisoned for life and given 15 strokes of the cane, according to lawyer Ngeow Chow Ying, vice-chair of the Civil Rights Committee of the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall who has been spearheading a "Save Vui Kong" campaign.

She said the Singapore High Court decided Thursday on the re-sentencing of the Sabahan's case, which has attracted a lot of attention.

Last year, the Singapore Government announced changes to the mandatory death penalty, allowing death row inmates to be given a lighter sentence if they met certain conditions.

If the Attorney-General finds that they meet these conditions, it will issue a Certificate of Co-operation (CoC) allowing the inmate to apply to the courts for the death sentence to be set aside and to be re-sentenced.

Yong, 25, from Sabah, was sentenced to death after he was convicted on Jan 7, 2009, for trafficking 47gm of a controlled drug diamorphine on June 13, 2007, a capital offence under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act.

He was only 18 when he was arrested.

According to a statement by the Singapore Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) in September, Yong and Subashkaran Pragasam, a Singaporean on death row, have assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting drug trafficking activities within and outside Singapore.

The AGC said if Subashkaran and Yong were able to prove to the court on a balance of probabilities that they were traffickers who only played the role of couriers, the prosecution will leave the sentence to the discretion of the court.

Subashkaran and Yong were the first two people awaiting capital punishment, who the Public Prosecutor decided to issue certificates of substantive assistance under the amended Misuse of Drugs Act.

Since being imprisoned, Yong has turned a new leaf, taking up Buddhism and spending a lot of time on prayer and meditation. He has also become a vegetarian and taken a new name, Nan Di Li, from the Buddhist Dharma. - The Star Online, 14/11/2013. Singapore spares Yong Vui Kong the noose, re-sentences him to life imprisonment, 15 strokes

Yong Vui Kong may escape death penalty

Yong Vui Kong

Attorney-General’s Chambers to issue certificate of substantive assistance to two death row inmates for helping disrupt drug trafficking

18 September

SINGAPORE — Convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Yong Vui Kong may escape the death penalty after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said today (Sept 18) that he had “substantively assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting drug trafficking within and outside Singapore”.

In a statement, the AGC said that Yong and Subrashkaran Pragasam will be the first two persons awaiting capital punishment to receive certificates of substantive assistance under the amended Misuse of Drugs Act.

The AGC said that it today informed the respective counsels for Yong and Subrashkaran that the public prosecutor will certify to the High Court of their substantive assistance to the CNB.

The AGC said that it will leave the sentencing of both men to the court, if they are able to prove “on a balance of probabilities that they were traffickers who only played the role of couriers”.

Yong, 25, was found guilty of possessing over 42gm of heroin in June 2007. His case has attracted international attention with his counsel, Mr M Ravi, asking Malaysia to bring his case to the International Court of Justice in 2010.

Subashkaran, 29, was sentenced to death in October last year for possession of heroin.

The Misuse of Drugs Act was amended in November last year to give judges discretion in sentencing for some drug-trafficking cases. The death penalty was previously mandatory in all drug trafficking cases. - Today, 18/9/2013, Yong Vui Kong may escape death penalty

"...In order to better appreciate the significance of this Certificate and what it entails, we must first look at the relevant portion of the law which provides for its issuance by the Public Prosecutor. This relevant portion is s 33B(1) and (2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

In short, s 33B (1) empowers the court with the option of sentencing the convict to imprisonment for life.

In order to do so, however, the convict must satisfy two conditions provided in 33B (2), namely:

(a)               The person convicted proves, on a balance of probabilities, that his involvement in the offence under section 5(1) or 7 was restricted — to transporting, sending or delivering a controlled drug; to offering to transport, send or deliver a controlled drug; to doing or offering to do any act preparatory to or for the purpose of his transporting, sending or delivering a controlled drug; or to any combination of activities above;

(b)               The Public Prosecutor certifies to any court that, in his determination, the person has substantively assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting drug trafficking activities within or outside Singapore.

Out of the two conditions set forth by the section above, Yong has already fulfilled one as the Certificate of Substantive assistance, is a written affirmation by the Public Prosecutor of the requirement set out in s 33B(2). He now needs to prove to the Court, on a balance of probabilities, that his role was merely that of a “drug courier” (i.e. simply transporting, sending, or delivering the heroin), as well as to convince the Court that they should reverse his sentence of death, and substitute it with imprisonment for life with caning. Noting the Prosecution’s indication that they will not seek the death penalty, the latter may be fulfilled more easily. - The Singapore Law Review, 31/10/2013, How substansive is 'substantive assistance' ? by Joshua Kow