Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) are appealing to the Singapore government to halt the execution of Malaysian citizen Abd Helmi bin Ab Halim who is due to be hanged at Changi prison this Friday.

Helmi was convicted and sentenced to death for allegedly trafficking in 16.56 grams of diamorphine on 24 March 2017.

Helmi, 36, is from Johor and is married with children. Helmi has consistently denied any knowledge of the drugs he is alleged to have been carrying.

LFL advisor N Surendran (above) said in a statement today that Singapore is preparing to execute an alleged drug mule, while the drug kingpins continue to operate with impunity.

"It is highly improbable that our citizen Helmi received a fair trial in Singapore. In the Singapore legal system, an unusually high proportion of those charged for drug trafficking are eventually convicted."

"This itself suggests a legal system biased against the accused in drug trafficking cases. Similarly, in communist China, those who are charged have no chance of acquittal."

He went on to question the independence of Singapore's judiciary.

"It is also an internationally known fact that Singapore does not have an independent judiciary; their courts are little more than a subservient arm of the PAP government," he said.

Surendran went on to claim that remarks made in May 2019 at a narcotics seminar by Singapore Home Minister K Shanmugam indicated that Malaysian citizens have long been targeted.

"The imposition of the death penalty for drug crimes has been declared by the UN to violate international law, and amounts to unlawful killing," he said.

"Malaysia has declared a moratorium on executions, pending abolition of the death penalty for drug offences.

However, in defiance of these international legal norms, Singapore continues to brutally execute low-level drug mules"

"We urge the government of Singapore to halt the hanging of Abd Helmi and review the imposition of the death penalty for drug crimes," he said.

LFL also urged the Malaysian government to make urgent representations to Singapore to save the life of its citizen.