Singapore ’s Supreme Court condemn a man to decease via Zoom video Old World chat on Friday , accord to a report from theStrait Times . It ’s believe to be the 2nd prison term that a death time has been handed down this year over the video recording service , which has seen a dramatic increment in usage since the planetary coronavirus pandemic began earlier this year .
Punithan Genasan , a 37 - year - old Malaysian subject , was doom to death by fall for allegedly introducing two drug dealers to each other in 2011 . Genasan was extradited to Singapore in 2016 for being “ complicit in trafficking , ” as theStrait Timesput it , and helped stage a deal that involved roughly one ounce ( 28.5 grams ) of diacetylmorphine . Genasan has deny all the charge against him .
Singapore , a city - state of over 5 million people with a zero leeway policy for drug , is one of the few affluent legal power in the world that still stay on the practice of majuscule punishment . Japan and the U.S. also still ordain the death penalisation , something that has been abolished in most other wealthy countries . Singapore report four slaying in 2019 and 13 murder in 2018 , according toAmnesty International .
File photo of Merlion park in Singapore from 27 January 2025.Photo: (Getty Images)
https://gizmodo.com/texas-court-experimenting-with-its-first-zoom-jury-tria-1843519263
It ’s not clear if sentencing someone to death is against Zoom ’s terms of service . Texas is currently experimenting with its first jury trial by Zoom , as Gizmodo reportedon Monday . Zoom did not answer to an email sent early Wednesday , but human rights groups are understandably upset about the case in Singapore .
“ The destruction penalty is inherently fell and inhumane , and Singapore ’s use of remote technology like Zoom to condemn a man to end makes it even more so , ” Phil Robertson , the deputy sheriff director of Human Rights Watch in Asia , told Gizmodo via electronic mail on Wednesday .
“ It ’s shocking the prosecutor and the court are so callous that they give way to see that a man face majuscule punishment should have the rightfield to be present in court to confront his accuser . The sheer finality of the judgment of conviction , and the reality that wrongful conviction do take place around the world in destruction sentence cases , raise serious concern about why Singapore is rush to conclude this cause via Zoom , ” Robertson assure Gizmodo .
“ Singapore adjudicate to enshroud from the globe that it executes oodles of people every year but by remotely sentencing a man to die in this sheath , they have brought back welcome attending to their inherently right violating practices . ”
Singapore ’s High Court judge Chan Seng Onn was the one to officially announce the destruction penalisation for Genasan over a Zoom call , according to the Strait Times , a judge who reportedly believed the testimony of the two other men charge in the case , V. Shanmugam Veloo from Malaysia and Mohd Suief Ismail from Singapore . Shanmugam was antecedently doom to life in prison house and 15 lashes with a cane , while Suief has been sentenced to destruction .
“ For the safety of all involved in the legal proceeding , the hearing for Public Prosecutor v Punithan A / L Genasan was conducted by video - conferencing , ” a spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Singapore toldReuters .
The death penalty is a hotly contend topic in the U.S. , where around 40 percent of all executions are carried out in Texas , harmonize to Amnesty International . Capital penalisation is especially controversial because the country has insure multiple botched executions in late years , though there are no reports of any death penalty cases being handled via Zoom in the U.S. yet . A death quarrel yard bird in Georgia take to be killed by firing team in 2017 after several captive were inadvertently excruciate to death bybotched lethal injection . That request was deny .
Singapore ’s bizarre lawsuit is the first death judgment of conviction handed down by video chat in the urban center - state of matter , but it ’s at least the 2d clip a death penalty condemnation has been handed down to a prisoner via Zoom . A man in Nigeria was sentenced to expiry by hanging earlierthis monthin Lagos for allegedly killing a 76 - year - erstwhile woman .
DrugsHeroinmalaysiaSingaporevideo chatvideophonezoom
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and acculturation tidings in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
