In less than 24 hours, the candidates list for the upcoming Malacca State Elections will be announced.
In less than 72 hours, Malaysian man Nagaenthran who is mentally disabled will be executed on Wednesday 10th November.
Last Wednesday, I had met the Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri to hand over the memorandum by the Anti-Death Penalty Network (ADPAN) calling for Nagaenthran’s execution to be halted and his entence commuted to life.
I came to understand that there are protocols in place for a Prime Minister or a Head of State when she or he intends to speak to a counterpart and that it’s not as straightforward as picking up the phone or sending a letter. That while it is Government to Government, triggered by Foreign Minister to Foreign Minister, in this case, time is of essence, and is certainly not on our side.
Following protocol which often is time consuming means that we will bear witness to Nagaenthran’s execution on Wednesday.
Allow me to share why it is so important, and for such important matters as saving ONE life of a citizen of Keluarga Malaysia that ‘breaking protocol’ is the only way forward.
Mary Jane Veloso was arrested at the Yogyakarta Airport in April 2010, the same year Nagaenthran was convicted of drug trafficking, when she was found with 2.6kg of heroin on her. Like Nagaenthran, all her appeals were rejected in Indonesia.
The Monday before her execution in 2015 along with the ‘Bali 9’ prisoners, the late President Benigno Aquino met up with President Jokowi when they met at a regional meeting in Malaysia to discuss Mary Jane’s case, particularly on her testifying against drug traffickers.
While help came for Mary Jane at the eleventh hour in the form of Ms Sergio who sought protection from the police due to death threats, Nagaenthran was under duress and has an IQ of 69 which means that he was unable to assess the risk of doing such a thing unlike you and I.
“Cab Sec, we did it” was the one-sentence message sent by the Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to the Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras at 2.20am on Wednesday indicating that Indonesia has delayed the execution of Mary Jane Veloso by firing squad at 1am.
President Aquino requested Indonesia to turn Veloso into a state witness to assist in information on a drug syndicate preying on vulnerable women like Mary Jane.
He spoke directly to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, breaking protocol seeing the gravity of the issue at hand.
The hands on assertive gesture by President Aquino and Indonesia’s halting Mary Jane’s execution does not show weakness but the courage to make a right decision in pressing and demanding times. True and compassionate leadership was visible in the decision that President Jokowi made on that fateful Wednesday morning that spared the life of Mary Jane who is still in prison.
Fast forward to 2021, Nagaenthran may suffer a different fate if there is no move to reach out and lobby for him not to be executed but for his sentence commuted to life.
The reason? Nagaenthran is a mentally disabled man with an IQ of 69.
Today, I seek the same leadership, courage and compassion from Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri as Prime Minister of Malaysia to intervene and communicate with the President of Singapore Her Excellency Halimah Yaacob and his counterpart Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong to spare the life of a man who is mentally disabled.
Like Malaysia, Singapore has also signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and therefore cannot and must not execute a mentally disabled man. Commute his death sentence to life, please.
Commuting Nagaenthran’s death sentence to life will not be viewed as a sign of weakness but of courage, compassion and mercy.
Drug trafficking has been a curse and a bane in South East Asia from the 80s, even bestowing the distressing title of the “Golden Triangle” as the manufacturers and distributors of drugs, especially synthetic drugs in the ASEAN region. If after 4 decades of concerted efforts fighting drug demons in SEA and we are still executing people as a form of punishment and more so, a deterrent, clearly we have failed to counter this growing, demanding and lucrative trade.
There should be ZERO people on death row for drug related offences today. But that is far from the truth.
The number of people on death row, especially drug related offences in Malaysia is increasing every year and the death sentence has not proven a deterrent to this crime/trade.
Singapore, like Malaysia retains the death penalty since British colonial times for a myriad of offences, and in this case drug related offences. The difference is that the UK, over time has evolved and abolished the death penalty but these countries have chosen to retain it.
With less than 72 hours to go, I appeal to the Prime Minister to ‘break protocol’ to save a disabled Malaysian.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/aquino-behind-scenes-mary-jane-veloso
#FightCrimeNotEndLife