[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----JAP., CHINA, RUSS., INDIA, PAKIS., BANG., MALAY., SING.

[Rick Halperin]

October 27




JAPAN:

A restaurant in Tokyo is serving the last meals of famous death row inmates



In Tokyo's red light district neighbourhood of Kabukichi, Shinjuku, Chim?Pom - 
a Japanese guerilla art collective - has opened a pop-up restaurant serving the 
last meals requested by famous death row inmates.

Dubbed the Ningen Restaurant (translated as "human restaurant"), the pop-up, 
which operates until October 28, offers meals requested by convicted criminals 
such as Gary Mark Gilmore before they were executed. Gilmore, a serial 
criminal, was convicted on counts of armed robbery, assault, and 2 murders he 
had committed in Utah. His case gained international attention after he 
demanded to receive the death sentence for his crimes.

For his last meal, Gilmore opted for a hamburger, mashed potatoes, a 
hard-boiled egg, and multiple shots of whiskey. According to Munchies, Gilmore 
requested Jack Daniels, though Chim?Pom's version uses Maker's Mark instead.

Here's a look at Chim?Pom's take on Gilmore's last meal:

Chim?Pom reportedly features the last meals of other criminals including John 
Wayne Gacy, a Chicago-based serial killer and rapist, who requested to have a 
pound of strawberries, a bucket of KFC chicken, fries, and a dozen fried shrimp 
for his last meal.

The restaurant also serves the last meal of Joseph Paul Jernigan, a criminal 
from Texas convicted of murder who donated his corpse to the Texas Anatomy 
Board at the suggestion of the prison chaplain. Without his knowledge, his body 
was later integral in the establishment of a federal government project meant 
to digitalize the human body, called the Visible Human Project.

Chim?Pom's recreation of Jernigan's last requested meal includes 2 
cheeseburgers, a salad, and an iced tea. However, Jernigan reportedly refused 
to eat his actual meal when the time came.

The 2-week pop-up is part of a larger art installation by Chim?Pom, featuring 
artwork by Austrian avant-garde artist Hermann Nitsch and performances from 
local artists such as Aida Makoto and shock art performers Dengenki Network.

Based out of the Kabukicho Book Center, the pop-up is the building's last event 
before being demolished following an acquisition by a Tokyo-based property 
developer that operates the nearby famous Robot Restaurant.

Here's a glimpse of what it's like inside the restaurant:

The "body-based" theme of the pop-up and the other exhibitions are inspired by 
the Kabukicho neighbourhood's history as a place where, according to Chim?Pom's 
website, "people used the sex work industry, bodies, and desire as weapons or 
ways of consumption to survive."

The project isn't the 1st of its kind. In 2017, photographer Henry Hargreaves 
achieved coverage for his photographic recreation of famous death row meals. 
Hargreaves is a critic of the death penalty and created his photo series 
following news that Texas was rescinding criminals' ability to make last meal 
requests.

A representative for Chim?Pom did not immediately reply to INSIDER's request 
for comment.

(source: businessinsider.com.au)








CHINA----executions

Drug producers executed in south China



2 drug makers were executed Friday in south China's Hainan Province for 
manufacturing drugs, according to a local court.

The 2 offenders, identified by their surnames as Xie and Tian only, were the 
prime culprits of a drug-manufacturing case. In early July of 2015, Xie and 
Tian who were locals of south China's Guangdong Province conspired to secretly 
fund the manufacturing of ketamine in a valley in Wenxi Village, Suichuan 
County in east China's Jiangxi Province, said the First Intermediate People's 
Court of Hainan.

The local public security department launched a raid on July 11, 2015, and 
seized a total of 3.5 tonnes of drugs and raw materials for producing the drugs 
at the plant.

The local police apprehended 13 suspects involved in the case from July 11, 
2015 to Sept. 13, 2016.

The court sentenced Xie and Tian to death in the 1st trial on June 26, 2017. 
All their properties were also confiscated, according to the verdict. Other 
suspects were convicted and given jail terms ranging from fixed-term 
imprisonment to life imprisonment and the death penalty with probation.

Xie and Tian appealed after the trial. The Hainan Provincial Higher People's 
Court rejected their appeal and upheld the sentences of the previous trial on 
Dec. 18, 2017.

(source: xinhuanet.com)








RUSSIA:

Party leader claims Russians would support capital punishment due to their 
'aggressive nature'



The school shooting in Kerch last week has reignited a public debate on whether 
Russia should keep its moratorium on the death penalty, which has been in place 
for over 20 years.

On October 17, a student of a college in Kerch killed 21 people, including 16 
fellow students in a gun rampage. Just like many other high-profile crimes in 
Russia, this was used by proponents of the death penalty to advocate lifting 
the moratorium. The restoration of capital punishment "is long overdue," 
popular TV host Vladimir Solovyev said the next day.

The journalist acknowledged that a profound justice reform would be required in 
Russia before the moratorium could be lifted, but added that one of the side 
benefits would be Russia's withdrawal from the Council of Europe.

This week, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the controversial leader of LDPR party, added 
his take on the issue in a manner that was not too flattering towards his own 
voters. He claimed that if a referendum was held on whether Russia needs 
capital punishment, most people would "sadly vote yes."

"That is the aggressive nature of our people. We like arresting, hanging and 
shooting people," the politician said. He added that the threat of a death 
penalty would not have stopped the Kerch college shooter, who killed himself 
after the violent rampage.

The Russian criminal code allows sentencing people to death, but no execution 
has been carried out since 1997. Russia pledged to get rid of the death penalty 
when it joined the Council of Europe in 1996. However, the Russian parliament 
never ratified the international treaty that would ban this form of punishment 
altogether.

Last year, an opinion poll by Levada Center showed that people in Russia remain 
split on the issue. Some 44 % said capital punishment should be restored or 
even applied to more crimes than before the moratorium was imposed; while 41 % 
called for maintaining the status quo or finalizing the proposed total ban.

Over the years, the number of proponents for the death penalty in Russia has 
steadily declined. In 2002, the figures were 68 % in favor versus 24 % against, 
according to the same polling agency.

(source: rt.com)








INDIA:

MP HC commutes death sentence of man accused of raping minor



The Madhya Pradesh High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man accused 
of raping a minor to 20 years rigorous imprisonment.

Raj Kumar Kol, charged with kidnapping and raping a 5-year-old girl on July 4 
this year in Katni district, was awarded the death penalty by a trial court 
there under Section 376 (AB) of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with 
punishment for raping a minor below the age of 12.

The MP high court commuted the capital punishment to rigorous imprisonment of 
20 years and a fine of Rs 10,000, government advocate Vishal Bhagat said.

He added that the lower court's sentence of 2 years under Section 366 
(kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code was upheld by the high court.

The two sentences will run separately for a period of 22 years.

A division bench of high corurt comprising Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and 
Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla Friday observed, "nothing is available on the record 
to suggest that he cannot be useful for the society".

The high court also said that "nothing has been brought on record by the 
prosecution that the accused was having any criminal antecedent, and the 
possibility of his rehabilitation and reformation has also not been ruled out".

Kol had moved the MP HC after being convicted by the Katni court.

Kol, an autorickshaw driver, used to ferry the minor victim to school.

(source: thequint.com)








PAKISTAN:

PHC sets aside death sentences to over 50 convicts



The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday set aside death sentence to more than 
50 convicts awarded by the military courts on terrorism charges including 
suicide attacks and martyring security forces, police, lawmakers and civilians.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Lal Jan 
Khattak allowed all the revision petitions filed against conviction by military 
courts, including death sentence to 50 convicts and two convicts of life 
imprisonment.

The bench allowed appeals after three days of detailed arguments from both the 
counsels of the convicts and law officers defending the convictions and 
examining the record of the cases. "All the appeals against the death sentence, 
life imprisonment and other sentences of 14 years to 20 years against the 
decisions of military courts are allowed and reasons to be recorded in detailed 
judgment," the bench announced in a short order.

Muhammad Ijaz Sabi, Sahibzada Asadullah, Abdul Latif Afridi, Shabir Hussain 
Gigyani, Muhammad Arif Jan, Naveed Akhtar, Ghulam Nabi, Gohar Rehman Khattak 
and Ziaur Rehman Tajik argued the appeals in revision petition on behalf of the 
convicts.

During the course of the hearing, the lawyers raised several legal points 
against the decisions of the military courts. They pointed out before the bench 
that the convictions had been awarded on the basis of confessional statements 
by the military courts, which did not fulfill the legal requirements under the 
law.

They submitted that the courts even acquitted convicts when the confessional 
statements are recorded after three or four days delay and in these cases, 
confessional statements were recorded after four or five years delay in the 
custody of the law-enforcement agencies.

The lawyers submitted that no fair chance of trial had been given to the 
convicts as guaranteed in Article 10 and 10-A of Constitution and the defence 
lawyer provided to the accused was the same in all cases and is inexperienced 
as he did his LLB in 2015.

Furthermore, they argued that the retrospective effect has also not been given 
in the 21st Amendment in the Pakistan Army Act, passed on January 8, 2015. They 
pointed out that in almost all the cases, the convicts were charged in 
terrorism cases that occurred in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and their trial without 
FIRs and retrospective effect in the Army Act for the trial was unlawful and 
without jurisdiction.

The lawyers requested the court to declare all the convictions awarded by the 
military courts void as they said the convicted persons were innocent. In the 
last several months, the high court had suspended the convictions awarded by 
the military courts in these cases. In majority cases, the chief of army staff 
(COAS) had confirmed the death sentence of the convicts and they were waiting 
for execution.

In majority cases, the families of the convicts had filed revision petitions 
against the death sentences after they got information during meetings with the 
convicts before executions at the internment centres.

The convict Gul Faraz, a resident of Bajaur, was also acquitted from death 
sentence awarded by the military court, who was charged for involvement in the 
attack on the funeral ceremony of civilian Abdullah at Zargarano Killi in 
Shergar, Mardan, resulting in the death of 30 civilians including KP Assembly 
lawmaker Imran Khan Mohmand.

Izzat Khan, a resident of Swat, a convict, as per the record allegedly charged 
for his involvement in the killing of innocent civilians and attacking armed 
forces of Pakistan as well as Malakand University, which resulted in the death 
of a civilian, 4 police officials and injuries to 7 others. The convict was 
also convicted in involvement for the destruction of 3 different educational 
institutions.

Another death sentence convict, Muhammad Arish, as per the ISPR, was a member 
of a proscribed organisation. It was stated that he was involved in attacking 
the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, which resulted in the death of 4 
civilians.

Jannat Karim, a resident of the Doaba area in Hangu, was sentenced to death by 
a military court for his involvement in a 2017 attack on an imambargah in 
Parachinar. Karim's sentence was also confirmed by the army chief earlier this 
month.

(source: thenews.com.pk)

***********************

Pakistan army chief confirms death sentence for 14 militants



Pakistan's army chief has approved death sentences for 14 "hardcore terrorists" 
convicted by military courts for attacks in recent years that killed 19 
security forces and 3 civilians.

A military statement issued Friday says Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa also approved 
prison terms for 8 militants. It says those convicted were involved in attacks 
on security forces and civilians, as well as the destruction of educational 
institutions and a famous ski resort in Swat valley. It didn't say when the men 
would be executed.

Military trials are not open to the public in Pakistani but defendants have the 
right to hire their own lawyers.

Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty after a 2014 militant attack 
on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed more than 150 people, mostly 
schoolchildren.

(source: Associated Press)

***********************

Court awards death sentence to a man for killing wife in Lahore



An additional district and session judge (AD&SJ) Zafar Iqbal on Friday awarded 
death penalty to a man for killing his wife.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 200,000 on the convict besides awarding him 
1-year sentence for injuring his sister-in-law.

The AD&SJ announced the verdict after hearing arguments of the parties and 
examining available evidences.

According to prosecution, Riasat Majeed had murdered his wife Tasleem and 
injured his sister-in-law over some domestic issue in 2016 in the limits of 
Kahna police station.

(source: urdupoint.com)








BANGLADESH:

Death sentence not enough to stop drugs



In recent years, the drug menace has reached horrendous proportions in 
Bangladesh, both in terms of trade and addiction. This has become a national 
problem and is obviously out of the law enforcement agencies' control. It is a 
matter of concern that the government is tackling this as a mere law and order 
issue. But it is not as if imposing a death sentence will resolve the problem. 
After all, those running the drug cartels, trading around 60 billion taka worth 
of yaba pills a year, are hardly bothered about such sentences.

The annual narcotics control report says that the use of drugs has increased by 
80 % from 2008 to 2016. And it went up by 46 % from 2015 to 2016. This increase 
in drug use is because yaba is now within the reach of even the poorer classes. 
Low prices mean higher consumers. In 2012, the number of yaba addicts was less 
than 6 % of the total number of drug addicts. Within a year it crossed over 31 
%. How? According to government reports, yaba is being smuggled in through 15 
points along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. What are those responsible for 
preventing this smuggling doing then?

Despite the tensions between the 2 countries over the Rohingya repatriation 
issue, joint patrols are being carried out. Surveillance has been increased 
along the border due to the Rohingya crisis. So how has yaba smuggling 
increased? There are allegations that a powerful section of the Myanmar army is 
involved in this trade. But then, our own border security forces should 
challenge this. We must protect our borders.

In 2002, the number of drug-related cases hardly reached 10,000. In 2017 the 
number of such cases almost reached 100,000. If the law enforcement is so 
active, how come this has increased 10 times over? This seems to be linked to 
the fictitious cases being filed by the police where, according to media 
reports, the police surreptitiously slips in a packet of yaba pills or heroin 
into the pockets of unsuspecting victims and nab them. So the number of 
drug-related cases does not indicate the responsibility or efficiency of the 
law enforcement in controlling drugs.

While the number of cases may have spiralled up, the number of accused actually 
being sentences is few. Backed by the administration, the so-called war against 
drugs saw around 300 extrajudicial killings. Similar operations in Philippines 
and other countries indicate that such exercises are totally ineffective. There 
is no use in imposing laws for life term imprisonment or death sentences unless 
the border is tightly secured and steps are taken to heathen the responsibility 
and accountability of the law enforcement agencies.

A narcotics control bill 2018 has been placed in parliament with provisions for 
death penalty for carrying, using, importing, exporting or trading drugs. After 
the separation of the judiciary, it is contrary to constitution to put forward 
the proposal for increasing the jurisdiction of mobile courts under officers of 
the administration cadre for the trial of drug-related crimes. Even the present 
drug related law while provides for a mobile court, creates an unconstitutional 
parallel judiciary in the country. All this should be end. In order to resolve 
the problem, it is most important to ensure the accountability of the concerned 
quarters.

(source: Opinion, Prothom Alo)








MALAYSIA:

Nazri will get opposition on board with abolishing death penalty - Kula



Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz has pledged to help Putrajaya obtain 
opposition support to abolish the death penalty, according to Human Resources 
Minister M Kulasegaran.

"Nazri reiterated his stand for the abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia 
and urged us all to fiercely support it.

"He further said he will get the opposition to support the abolition of the 
death penalty. He further reiterated that the abolition bill must be debated 
and approved, if possible, in this sitting of Parliament," the minister said in 
a statement today.

The statement was issued in Kulasegaran's capacity as the new chair of the 
Malaysian chapter of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA).

He had taken over the post from Nazri - who held the position for a decade - 2 
days ago.

Kulasegaran also stated that PGA Malaysia will hold a 2-day seminar on the 
death penalty in Asia on Oct 30 and 31, which will feature lawmakers from other 
countries in the region.

He added that de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong and Dewan Rakyat speaker 
Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof will both speak at the seminar.

Putrajaya has already placed a moratorium on capital punishment.

Liew previously said that if the penalty is abolished, those on death row will 
have to start a fresh life sentence.

(source: malaysiakini.com)








SINGAPORE----executions

Singapore executes 6 men over drug trafficking despite international pleas



Singapore has executed 6 men convicted of drug offences in October, despite 
pleas from Amnesty International and Malaysia, which recently pledged to 
abolish the death penalty.

Prabu N Pathmanathan, a 31-year-old from Malaysia who had been on death row 
since 2014, was hanged at Changi prison on Friday morning.

A second man, reported to be Singaporean Irwan bin Ali, was executed alongside 
Mr Pathmanathan, following the "secret" hanging of Selamat bin Paki, according 
to the International Federation for Human Rights.

They were among 6 men executed in October, all on drug offences.

N Surendran, the lawyer for Mr Pathmanathan's family, told the ABC that 
Singapore authorities had unlawfully refused to consider a petition for 
clemency.

According to local media, the office of Singapore President Halimah Yacob had 
delivered a letter to Prabu's family in response to their petition, saying it 
was "unable to accede to [their] request".

Mr Surendran said his client "felt he had become a new man after the experience 
of being in prison" and had become "very spiritual".

"He wanted to live. He wanted to have another chance," he said.

Mr Surendran added that Singapore appeared to be shortening the notice given to 
prisoners "so they can execute with the minimum of fuss".

"It's extremely unfair and prejudicial to the prisoner and his family to give 
him practically less than a week notice of execution," he said.

Calls to abolish the death penalty

The case has fuelled a fresh push against the wealthy state's use of the death 
penalty.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International's Singapore Researcher, said the 
death penalty contravened international law.

"It is time for Singapore to re-establish its moratorium on the death penalty 
and follow the Government of Malaysia's example, who have suspended all 
executions and announced plans to abolish the use of this cruel punishment for 
all crimes," she said.

"This cruel and irreversible punishment has no place in any society, as more 
than 2/3 of the world's countries have come to recognise."

Malaysia surprised many by abolishing the death penalty, making the 
announcement on October 10 - the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

It is expected to come into effect by the end of the year.

Drug offences accounted for the largest number of executions in Malaysia, which 
previously mandated capital punishment for crimes ranging from murder and 
kidnapping to drug offences and treason.

Amnesty International reported in March that 799 people on death row were 
convicted of drug trafficking, including 416 foreign nationals.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs, which runs both the Singapore Central 
Narcotics Bureau and the Singapore Prison Service, could not be immediately 
reached for comment.

(source: abc.net.au)

************************

Surge of hangings in Singapore while Malaysia shuns death penalty----Despite 
appeals, a Malaysian citizen ensnared in neighboring Singapore's capital 
punishment regime was not spared; he was 1 of 4 executed this week



Given the circumstances, conjuring a smile couldn't have been easy. Still, 
Prabu N. Pathmanathan, a 31-year-old Malaysian convicted of drug trafficking, 
put on his best face when it came time for his final photographs to be taken. 
Despite a Malaysian government appeal for leniency, he would be hanged just 
hours later at Changi Prison in Singapore.

The young Malaysian, sentenced to death for couriering 7.97 ounces of heroin 
into the city-state in 2014, was among at least 6 individuals executed in 
Singapore this month for drug offenses. His fate was sealed after the 
President's Office of Singapore rejected 2 petitions lodged by family members 
and civil society groups requesting clemency.

Though the Singapore Prison Service does not routinely release information 
about imminent executions apart from figures released in its annual report, 
anti-death penalty activists claim that s7 executions have taken place since 
the beginning of October, including 4 this week.

Asia Times could not independently verify the figure. The wealthy Southeast 
Asian city-state is known to have conducted a total of 8 executions in 2017 and 
four in 2016. An uptick in the use of capital punishment in Singapore comes as 
neighboring Malaysia announced earlier this month that it would abolish the 
death penalty for all crimes.

World's strictest drug laws

Both countries inherited colonial-era capital punishment laws from British 
rule, which impose the death penalty - carried out by hanging - for crimes such 
as murder, kidnapping, some firearms offenses, and drug trafficking. Singapore 
is regarded as having the world's strictest drug laws and the majority of the 
country's execution cases are for drugs offenses.

Those found possessing specific drugs above a prescribed amount are 
automatically presumed to be traffickers and are subject to the death penalty, 
a practice that despite attracting foreign criticism and condemnation by 
international rights groups is seen elsewhere in the region in Vietnam, 
Indonesia and - until recently - Malaysia.

Malaysia's decision to pull back from capital punishment is part of broader 
institutional reform push now being undertaken by the ruling Pakatan Harapan 
coalition, which clinched a historic election victory in May. The new 
government also intends to repeal the colonial-era Sedition Act, which critics 
said was long been used to stifle dissent.

The legislation to repeal both laws has yet to be introduced in parliament, 
though media reports suggest they could be rescinded by the end of the year. 
Rights groups and civil society organizations praised Malaysia's decision as 
setting an example for the region, sparking debate about sentencing 
alternatives the country could adopt instead.

KL halts pending executions

Malaysia has halted all pending executions for the 1,279 prisoners still on 
death row and reports claim that those condemned to the gallows will be 
commuted to a prison term of at least 30 years. Liew Vui Keong, Malaysia's law 
minister, says the government is not convinced that capital punishment serves 
as an effective crime prevention deterrent.

Singapore's government unflinchingly claims the opposite is true, that capital 
punishment deters severe criminal acts and rampant drug use and has helped the 
city-state garner a reputation as one of the world's safest places. 
Researchers, however, believe there is a lack of reliable data on drug use in 
Singapore to support the government’s claims.

Moreover, Singapore government data shows that drug abuse actually increased 
from 2003 to 2017, despite the harsh laws criminalizing possession and 
trafficking. Though drug abuse has grown, low overall rates of incarceration 
for abusers have buoyed claims that Singapore remains relatively drug-free 
because of its zero-tolerance approach.

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) claims the number of drug abusers arrested 
last year comprised less than 0.1% of Singapore's total population. As such, 
Singapore's stance has hardened in recent years as certain countries move away 
from criminalizing drug use in favor of strategies that emphasize public 
health, harm reduction or legalization.

"Our penalties are severe because we want to deter [drug] offenses, not because 
we take any joy in enforcing them," Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam 
told Parliament earlier this year, claiming that anti-death penalty activists 
in Singapore "light candles" and "write emotive stories" for traffickers while 
ignoring the "real victims."

142 countries no longer carry out executions

The wealthy city-state, a major port and international financial hub where 
thousands of multinationals are headquartered, is 1 of only 4 countries with 
recorded drug offense executions in 2017, along with China, Saudi Arabia and 
Iran. Some 106 countries have abolished the death penalty and 142 in total are 
abolitionist in law or practice.

But more than 2/3 of Singaporeans support the death penalty, according to a 
survey commissioned by the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2016, 
while a similar survey in 2013 conducted in Malaysia saw more than 
three-quarters of respondents affirm their approval of the death penalty for 
drug trafficking or firearms offenses.

Singapore's use of capital punishment has at times led to unwanted tensions in 
diplomatic relations with countries opposed to the death penalty, such as when 
Johannes van Damme, a Dutch national, was executed in 1994 for trafficking 
heroin despite appeals from the Dutch Foreign Ministry and Queen Beatrix of the 
Netherlands.

Despite Malaysia’s calls to spare the life of its citizen falling on deaf ears, 
the government released a statement hours after Prabu's execution saying it 
respected the rule of law and due process of Singapore and that it was in 
communication with the family to make arrangements for his cremated remains to 
be returned.

In the wake of the recent hangings, We Believe in Second Chances, a local 
anti-death penalty advocacy and research group, released a statement urging 
that the penalty be reassessed, saying death row inmates had "a pattern of 
poverty and marginalization". It calls the penalty a "cruel and inhumane form 
of punishment."

'Less time for families to prepare'

2 of the 4 executions believed to have taken place in Singapore this week were 
scheduled on a Wednesday morning - a departure from the usual practice of 
executions taking place at dawn on Fridays. When inmates could obtain a stay of 
execution past a Friday, it was thought an execution would then be deferred by 
at least a week.

By carrying out hangings on a Wednesday, anti-death penalty activists claim to 
have less ability to monitor hangings because it is now less clear when they 
may occur. They also claim that the time between the rejection of a clemency 
appeal and the scheduling of an execution also appears to have been reduced.

That gives families of those sentenced to death less time to prepare for an 
execution and take legal recourse. According to Prabu's lawyer, N. Surendran, 
his family was only notified of his execution 6 days before it occurred. His 
legal counsel also claims that confessions obtained against the young Malaysian 
by the prosecution were made under duress.

It is a regular practice in Singapore for prisoners on death row to be granted 
a final photoshoot wearing civilian clothes provided by family members. Prabu 
reportedly gave anti-death penalty activists consent to share his last images 
online, so as to "urge people not to be involved with drugs."

(source: Asia Times)