SINGAPORE: The Singapore Prison Provider (SPS) has declined claims made by the particular sister of a death line inmate .
The states alleged that SPS had intentionally obstructed the submission of the legal application to be able to facilitate the inmate’s execution which is presently scheduled for Friday (Aug 5).
In a statement released on Thursday, SPS said these claims were “untrue”.
SPS also disputed events organized in a complaint notice addressed to Main Justice Sundaresh Menon and penned simply by Norhafizah Shapiee, the sister of Abdul Rahim Shapiee, a 45-year-old man found guilty in 2018 of possessing drugs designed for trafficking.
Norhafizah wrote in the letter that Abdul Rahim had been “denied entry to the court” whenever trying to file the civil claim through the prison registry. The type of the claim was not mentioned.
The lady said her sibling and other death row inmates had given relevant documents to prison officers upon Jul 25, requesting that the claim become filed urgently. However , she said the particular authorities refused to help and asked the particular inmates for “application forms and e-litigation forms”.
“Obviously, as they are passing away row prisoners, it is impossible for them to make available these forms, ” wrote Norhafizah.
The application had not been filed and on Jul 29, Abdul Rahim was given notice that he would be hanged upon Aug 5.
“I worry that the prison was conscious on Jul 25 of his planned execution… and therefore obstructed his application, ” said his cousin.
But on Thursday, SPS stated that no prisoner awaiting capital punishment got approached any of the officers on Jul 25 to demand to file any lawful application.
SPS said that it was on Jul 28 that two other demise row prisoners sought an SPS officer’s advice on filing the civil claim.
“Since the advice related to legal process to be filed within court, the SPS officer told all of them that they should talk to the court around the specific documents needed… as well as the fees involved, ” said the particular correctional agency.
“This may be the standard procedure for prisoners who are not aided by legal counsel for your filing of non-routine applications. ”
Examples of routine programs which SPS staff are familiar with include those for criminal motions and judicial reviews, said SPS.