Yong won't be hanged until at least January 2011

Malaysian prisoner on death row in Singapore, Yong Vui Kong, has managed to get his life extended to for another four months.

The Singapore Court of Appeal will hear Yong’s case against the High Court decision on his judicial review application in January.

Yong’s lawyer, M. Ravi (right), was informed via a letter sent by the Registrar of the Supreme Court that the appeal hearing has been set “for the week commencing Jan 17, 2011”.

“This early notice is to give sufficient time for the parties to be ready for the hearing, though we are aware that the record of appeals and cases has still not been filed,” the registrar’s letter said.

The High Court had on Aug 13 dismissed Yong’s appeal for judicial review over who has the  authority to grant a presidential clemency.

Justice Steven Chong ruled that the power to grant clemency “rests solely with the cabinet” and that the president has no discretion in the matter.

Chong also ruled that the courts have no power to review the clemency process.

The court was earlier asked to adjudicate on Law Minister K Shanmugam’s remarks in public, which were allegedly “prejudicial” to Yong as they were made before the latter filed his appeal for presidential clemency.

Shanmugam had also allegedly made the statement while the Court of Appeal was deliberating on Yong’s plea against his death sentence.

However, Chong, in his ruling, said he saw “nothing objectionable about the minister’s statement”.

Ravi later submitted a notice of appeal to the courts informing them that he intends to appeal Chong’s decisions.

‘Optimal utilisation of judicial resources’

Meanwhile, the registrar said that if the dispute or matter can be settled, the parties should make the effort to do so as early as possible and to inform the registry immediately when the decision not to proceed with the appeal is made.

“Such a course of action will be appreciated by all concerned as it will allow optimal utilisation of judicial resources,” the registrar added.

Yong was originally scheduled to be hanged on Dec 4 last year, however, it was delayed so that he could submit his presidential clemency appeal on Aug 26.  

The Singapore Prison Service has since informed Ravi that it has extended the deadline until after the Court of Appeal’s hearing.

Singapore’s President, SR Nathan, has never granted any clemency appeals in his 11 years in office as head of state.

Yong’s case has attracted much public attention in Malaysia and Singapore, where a petition calling for his sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment collected more than 100,000 signatures.

His family submitted the petition on Aug 24 at the Istana - the president's official residence - but failed to gain a face-to-face meeting.