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A man has been sentenced to death in Singapore through a Zoom video-call, for his role in a drug deal, the state of the city’s first case where capital punishment has been delivered remotely.
Punithan Genasan, 37-year-old from Malaysia, received the sentence for his role in a 2011 heroin transaction on Friday, court documents showed, with the country under lockdown to try to curb one of the highest coronavirus rates in Asia.
“For the safety of all those involved in the procedure, the hearing of Public Prosecutor v Punithan A/L Genasan was conducted by video-conference,” a spokesman of Singapore the Supreme Court of justice said in response to Reuters questions, citing restrictions imposed to minimize the spread of the virus.
It was the first criminal case of which a sentence of death was pronounced by remote control to the hearing in Singapore, the spokesman added.
Genasan his lawyer, Peter Fernando, said that his client received the verdict of the judge in a Zoom of the call and is considering the possibility of an appeal.
While rights groups have criticized the use of the Zoom in the cases of capital punishment, Fernando said that it was not opposed to the use of videoconferencing for the Friday of the call as it is only to receive the verdict of the judge, which could be heard clearly, and there are no other legal arguments were presented.
The California-based technology firm Zoom did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through their representatives in Singapore. The attorney General’s office, the public ministry, referred to Reuters ‘ questions to the Supreme Court.
Many of the court hearings in Singapore have been deferred during a lockout period, which began in early April and will last until June 1, while the cases that are considered essential have been held remotely.
Singapore has a zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs and has hanged hundreds of people – including dozens of foreigners for drug-related offences during the last decades, rights groups say.
“Singapore’s use of the death penalty is inherently cruel and inhumane, and the use of distance technology, such as the Zoom to the death sentence of a man makes it even more”, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch, division of Asia. HRW has also criticized a similar case in Nigeria, where a death sentence was delivered through a Zoom.
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