Petition to free man from Singapore death sentence
(The Star) – An online petition is racing against time to collect as many signatures as possible by Aug 22 to save Malaysian Yong Vui Kong, convicted of drug trafficking, from being hanged in Singapore.
See petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/yongvuikong/
In the latest posting on the Stand Up for Yong blog yesterday, an urgent appeal was made to help save the young Sabahan.
Organisers of the “Save Vui Kong” campaign plan to submit the signatures in an appeal to President of the Singapore, S. R. Nathan, to give Yong a second chance.
Yong, 22, was convicted on Jan 7 last year for trafficking in 47gm of diamorphine, a capital offence under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act.
Yong was arrested on June 13, 2007, at the age of 18.
The last day for Yong to file his petition for clemency is Aug 26, after which he will be hanged at any time.
While the blog said Yong’s appeal for clemency had been prejudiced by certain comments made by Singapore Law Minister K. Shanmugam on the case, Shanmugam has denied making statements that prejudiced the appeal.
Yong’s only hope is if his appeal is allowed and the death sentence is commuted to a prison term.
According to the blog, Yong grew up in poverty and had taken on odd jobs at the early age of 10.
He received very little education and was left alone without any real guidance and this led him to the path that ended in court.
The blog claims that Yong is a changed person since his imprisonment.
Finding faith in Buddhism, he is using the remaining days of his life to counsel fellow inmates and educate the general public on how drugs destroy life.
On July 5, Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman was reported as saying the ministry would be writing to the Singapore government to plead for clemency for Yong.
Yong’s lawyer M. Ravi brought up his client’s plight at Parliament in an attempt to seek help from the Malaysian Government to save him from execution.
