The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Thursday, February 27, that a death row inmate had been given a stay of execution approximately two days prior to his scheduled hanging on Wednesday, February 26.
In 2017, Hamzah Ibrahim was found guilty of possessing 26.29g of heroin with the intent to trade it and was given the death penalty.
MHA told CNA that Hamzah had "exhausted all legal channels" in connection with his conviction and sentencing, including the clemency process, and that he was set to be executed on Wednesday.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam issued a relief order for him on Monday. A respite order is not the same as a pardon.
According to MHA, after considering "recent developments" in the courts, the Cabinet recommended to the president that such an order be made for Hamzah.
The Court of Appeal's decision to allow convicted drug courier Pannir Selvam Pranthaman a stay in execution is a development that may be pertinent to Hamzah's case.
For the unversed, on May 2, 2017, Pannir was found guilty of bringing at least 51.84g of heroin into Singapore and given the death penalty. Although his execution date was set for February 20, he had applied to the Court of Appeal for authorization to file a post-appeal in a capital case.
The judge stated that he issued the order while he awaited the resolution of a constitutional challenge and the resolution of Pannir's complaint against his former attorney to the Law Society. That ruling was the most recent in Pannir's protracted battle against the death penalty.
He appealed his conviction and sentence, but on February 9, 2019, the Court of Appeal rejected it.
Pannir, his family, and his attorneys petitioned the president for clemency following the dismissal, but the president refused to commute the death sentence.
On May 24, 2019, Pannir's execution date was announced to his family. Among other reasons, Pannir challenged the outcome of the clemency plea in a second application for a stay of his death three days prior to the scheduled execution.
Pannir was given time to submit his application once the stay was approved.
He was among a number of prisoners who sought redress against the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) for disclosing inmates' correspondence with other individuals to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) in a subsequent round of applications and judicial review processes.
In October 2024, the court decided that the SPS and AGC had violated the detainees' right to confidentiality by revealing and keeping their letters.
