The president is likely to consider his clemency in the next week, so please send any appeals immediately.
You may also find this blog post interesting. It is about the justification for the death penalty in general in Singapore, and also about this particular case. I don't agree with it all, but it is well enough written and worth a read.
Dear friends,
On 3 November we issued a UA on Singapore (ASA 36/004/2009), on behalf of Malaysian national Yong Vui Kong, who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Singapore in January 2009. We have since found out that Singapore's President is likely to be considering his clemency petition within the next week, so please advise participants to send appeals as soon as possible. As there is no change to the Recommended Actions and the UA was only issued on Tuesday, we feel that this information can be communicated in an email to coordinators rather than a UA follow-up.
We have also recently received a translated copy of a letter of apology written by Yong's brother, addressed to President S. R. Nathan and the people of Singapore, dated 23 June 2009, pleading for a pardon for Yong Vui Kong. With his permission, here are some excerpts from the letter:
“I hereby tender my sincere apology to all the people of Singapore regarding my brother’s wrongdoing. I sincerely hope that all of you will give him a chance to live by pardoning him of his death sentence and commute it into a life sentence so that, as a first offender, he could have an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. He is a remorseful youth now….
10-year old Vui Kong was unable to continue with his education…. Initially he became a kitchen help and he fell into bad company. Vui Kong was used by the so-clled “Big Brother” to be a runner to collect bad debts…. Vui Kong himself did not consume drugs, but from collecting bad debts, he was slowly tasked to delivering gifts. The young Vui Kong obeyed the instructions of “Big Brother” who said that delivering a little bit of drugs would not lead to death. Vui Kong fell into the trap of the drug trafficking syndicate.
His mother who suffers from depression does not know anything of his arrest…. My family and I conceal the truth from her as we are worried that she would not be able to take such a blow.
Although the chances of escaping death are very slim, I hope that all of you would give him a new lease of life and hope that Vui Kong would have an opportunity to live again and under the yellow ribbon scheme, he would be able to learn a skill in prison and make some contributions to society in the future.“
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