In a first, man in Singapore sentenced to death via Zoom call

Singapore, May 20

A person has been sentenced to loss of life in Singapore through a Zoom video-call for his function in a drug deal, the city-state’s first case the place capital punishment has been delivered remotely.

Punithan Genasan, a 37-year-old Malaysian, acquired the sentence for his function in a 2011 heroin transaction on Friday, courtroom paperwork confirmed, with the nation below lockdown to attempt to curb one of many highest coronavirus charges in Asia.

“For the safety of all involved in the proceedings, the hearing for Public Prosecutor v Punithan A/L Genasan was conducted by video-conferencing,” a spokesperson for Singapore’s Supreme Court mentioned in response to Reuters’ questions, citing restrictions imposed to minimise virus unfold.

It was the primary legal case the place a loss of life sentence was pronounced by distant listening to in Singapore, the spokesperson added.

Genasan’s lawyer, Peter Fernando, mentioned his shopper acquired the choose’s verdict on a Zoom name and is contemplating an attraction.

While rights teams have criticised the usage of Zoom in capital instances, Fernando mentioned he didn’t object to the usage of video-conferencing for Friday’s name because it was solely to obtain the choose’s verdict, which might be heard clearly, and no different authorized arguments had been introduced.

California-based tech agency Zoom didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark made through its representatives in Singapore. The Attorney General’s Chambers, the general public prosecutor, referred Reuters’ inquiries to the Supreme Court.

Many courtroom hearings in Singapore have been adjourned throughout a lockdown interval that began in early April and is because of run till June 1, whereas instances deemed important have been held remotely.

Singapore has a zero-tolerance coverage for unlawful medicine and has hanged tons of of individuals – together with dozens of foreigners – for narcotics offences over previous a long time, rights teams say.

“Singapore’s use of the death penalty is inherently cruel and inhumane, and the use of remote technology like Zoom to sentence a man to death makes it even more so,” mentioned Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. HRW has additionally criticised an identical case in Nigeria the place a loss of life sentence was delivered through Zoom. Reuters