SINGAPORE – After spending almost 14 years behind bars, Pausi bin Jefridin is set to face the gallows on Wednesday (Feb 16) over drug trafficking charges.
Pausi, who was diagnosed with a low IQ level of 67, will be hanged alongside Singaporean Roslan Bakar for a 2008 drug offence.
According to anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han, Pausi and Roslan’s families only learnt of their fate a week before the execution date.
This is even though Pausi’s family are from Sabah, and have had to rush to make travel arrangements. However, they’re unable to travel to Singapore as all the tickets under the Singapore-Malaysia Vaccinated Travel Lane have been sold out.
Han also slammed the execution, calling it “grotesque cruelty”.
Pausi and Roslan were convicted in 2010 after being charged with trafficking 96.07g of diamorphine and 76.37g of methamphetamine.
In 2017, their lawyers filed an appeal to commute the death sentence to life sentence instead but failed, despite citing medical reports regarding their mental capabilities that would effectively deem their execution illegal under Singaporean law and international treaties.
This isn’t the first time a Malaysian diagnosed with a low IQ has been sentenced to death, where Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, who was found to have an IQ of 69 – was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2010 for drug trafficking.
He is currently awaiting his fate which is set to be revealed between Feb 21 and March 4.
Cover images via Malaysia Now
Editor: Sarah Yeoh
