Urgent Action 12-4-09

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa29609.pdf

Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on November 3, 2009. Thanks!

4 December 2009

Further Information on UA 296/09 (3 November 2009) - Death penalty

SINGAPORE Yong Vui Kong (m)

Yong Vui Kong received a stay of execution on 3 December, but is now scheduled for execution on 11 December. His appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeals on 8 December.Yong Vui Kong's lawyer has appealed on the grounds that the mandatory death sentence for drug-trafficking, which is set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act, is unconstitutional, and therefore his case should be referred back to the trial judge for "reconsideration."

The appeal was due to be heard by a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals on 2 December, but only one judge was present, so the court had to grant a stay of execution. The court, which rejected an earlier appeal against Yong Vui Kong’s death sentence, is now due to hear his latest appeal on 8 December.

The President of Singapore rejected Yong Vui Kong's petition for clemency on 1 December.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The authorities in Singapore do not release any information about the use of the death penalty in the country. At least one person is known to have been hanged so far in 2009, and at least three sentenced to death; in 2008, at least one person was hanged and five sentenced to death. The true figures are likely to be higher. The government has always maintained that the death penalty is not a human rights issue, and consistently lobbied other nations against the abolition of the death penalty.

All capital cases are tried by the High Court; convicted prisoners can appeal, and if they are unsuccessful they can apply to the president for clemency. President Nathan, who has been in power since 1999, is not known to have granted clemency to any condemned prisoner.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the president to reconsider Yong Vui Kong's clemency petition and commute his death sentence;
- Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking offenses, the court that sentenced Yong Vui Kong to death had no discretion to sentence him to an alternative punishment;
- Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.


APPEALS TO:

President
His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
SINGAPORE 0922
Fax: 011 65 6735 3135
Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Newspaper
Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
SINGAPORE 318994
Fax: 011 65 6319 8282
Email: stonline@sph.com.sg

Ambassador CHAN Heng Chee
Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
3501 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 537 0876
Email: singemb_was@sgmfa.gov.sg

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 11 December 2009.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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