Planned execution of Malaysian prisoner not carried out, says lawyer

[Editor's Note: Datchinamurty Kataiah was executed at 3pm today despite a last minute plea.]

The execution of Malaysian prisoner Datchinamurty Kataiah in Singapore, scheduled for this morning, was not carried out, according to the lawyer representing his family.

"His family received a call from prison after midnight informing them of this. We have no further information at this point. We are praying for the best outcome," said N Surendran.

It comes hours after protesters gathered outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, calling on Putrajaya to intervene and stop the execution.

Datchinamurty, who has spent most of the last 14 years on death row, was arrested at the age of just 25.

His appeals and pleas for clemency to commute his sentence to life imprisonment have failed.

"His pending execution is emblematic of Singapore’s fervour in carrying out capital punishment on drug mules, which have been widely panned as ineffective in combating the illegal drug trade," said vocal Malaysian rights group Lawyers for Liberty in a statement last night.

Datchinamurty's case has renewed calls by lawyers and rights groups for Singapore to abolish the controversial death penalty in the city-state.

The PAP-led government has defended its spree of executions in recent years even as neighbouring Malaysia announced a major step to abolish the mandatory death penalty, including for drug offenders.

Last year, nine individuals were executed in Singapore, eight of them for drug-related offences.

In 2022, 23 death row inmates came together to file a historic suit against the Singapore government, accusing authorities of scuttling their right to justice after a series of troubling executions of prisoners who were forced to defend themselves without lawyers in their final hours.