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Prabagaran a/l Srivijayan |
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — A woman today pleaded with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to intercede on behalf of her son, Prabagaran Srivijayan, who was convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore and sentenced to die.
V. Eswary, 54, said in an open letter to the PM that she was told her 29-year-old son received an “unfair trial”.
She said that the car he drove when he was arrested did not belong to him, but to a friend who lent it to Prabagaran. Prabagaran only used the car as he was afraid his motorcycle would be repossessed due to delinquent payments.
“Prabagaran was caught by the police because there was ‘stuff’ in the car,” Eswary said in the letter read out by a representative at a press conference here.
Capital punishment! State execution! Death penalty!
Legally kill a person - State sanctioned murder of a person
in the West, the state originally imposed capital punishment (but many countries NO longer do) based on the biblical threat in Exodus 21:23-44:
"And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot".
"And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot".
The Israelites learned that from the Babylonians, who wanted to curb excessive retaliations by the victim's family in meting out punishments to a wrong doer which might be worse than the crime itself.
But some Christian nations like the USA (in most states) have taken that biblical threat to mean their god condones such evil state-sanctioned murder of a human being, when it should be the sole prerogative of their god to deal with the sinful person.
In adhering to a verse in the Israeli Bible (Old Testament), they seem to have either forgotten or totally ignore the teachings of their Christian god Jesus as recorded in Matthew 5:38-39 (New Testament), namely:
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Al Quran also says (2:178):
"O ye who believe! the law of equality is prescribed to you in cases of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman. But if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and compensate him with handsome gratitude, this is a concession and a Mercy from your Lord. After this whoever exceeds the limits shall be in grave penalty."
Note that the statement "the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman" did not /does not mean if someone killed your slave, you could kill the slave handed over to you a la
"an eye for an eye ...".
The slave handed over to you was to compensate for your lost/killed slave, where you newly acquired slave then belonged completely to you and your family and not the perpetrator's family anymore.
The slave handed over to you was to compensate for your lost/killed slave, where you newly acquired slave then belonged completely to you and your family and not the perpetrator's family anymore.
In short, mercy was explicitly prescribed, which makes me wonder whether our Malaysian Islamic clerics understand the meaning?
Today, sadly, China has the highest number of capital punishments per annum in the world (from approximately 5000 per annum but now down to 2000), though on a per capita basis, Iran rules supreme.
Historians inform us that the Great Sage Kung Chiu-Tzu (Confucius) preached the need for society to practise restrain when imposing law and punishments on people.
But 200 years after his death, a group of legal philosophers referred to as the Legalists did not like Confucius' compassionate approach and implemented a system of law that scholars call legalism which was very cruel and inhuman.
In today's society, the state should focus on restraining such a criminal (imprisonment for life if necessary), but still a human being, or rehabilitating him/her to set the person on the rightful track in society again, instead of murdering the person under the euphemism of capital punishment.
But 200 years after his death, a group of legal philosophers referred to as the Legalists did not like Confucius' compassionate approach and implemented a system of law that scholars call legalism which was very cruel and inhuman.
In today's society, the state should focus on restraining such a criminal (imprisonment for life if necessary), but still a human being, or rehabilitating him/her to set the person on the rightful track in society again, instead of murdering the person under the euphemism of capital punishment.
A human life can only be made by god (or in my personal belief, wakakaka, nature) and cannot be replaced. Thus a human life is not only of priceless value but sacred, no matter that the person has done a terrible crime or sin.
An additional but frightening factor is that irreversible mistakes, that of executing innocent people, had been made by many countries or on the flimsiest of reasons or excuses.
Recently, Chinese police have admitted to executing an innocent young man 21 years ago when the real killer confessed to the killing.
And recorded/reported cases of innocent people being executed abound in the USA, the so-called land of justice where some of the greatest injustices to mankind have been committed.
Thus, in today's modern world, abandoning such a cruel punishment from the legal code of punishment would be the hallmark of a mature civilised nation which no longer subscribes to the ancient tribal ritual of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', a barbaric rite best left to the medieval Middle-Eastern nations of Israel and the Arab States, and some equally barbaric states in the USA and sadly the ancient civilizations of China and India.
We must strive to convince our politicians to speak out against capital punishment, as the late Karpal Singh had and UMNO Minister Nazri Aziz (in his personal capacity) also has, and hopefully erase such a barbarous punishment from our nation's legal code of punishment.
“It is wrong to become absorbed in the divine law to such a degree as not to perceive human law. Death belongs to God alone. By what right do men touch that unknown thing?”
An additional but frightening factor is that irreversible mistakes, that of executing innocent people, had been made by many countries or on the flimsiest of reasons or excuses.
Recently, Chinese police have admitted to executing an innocent young man 21 years ago when the real killer confessed to the killing.
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Nie Shubin was 20 years old when he faced a firing squad in 1995, two days after being convicted of rape and murder |
And recorded/reported cases of innocent people being executed abound in the USA, the so-called land of justice where some of the greatest injustices to mankind have been committed.
Thus, in today's modern world, abandoning such a cruel punishment from the legal code of punishment would be the hallmark of a mature civilised nation which no longer subscribes to the ancient tribal ritual of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', a barbaric rite best left to the medieval Middle-Eastern nations of Israel and the Arab States, and some equally barbaric states in the USA and sadly the ancient civilizations of China and India.
We must strive to convince our politicians to speak out against capital punishment, as the late Karpal Singh had and UMNO Minister Nazri Aziz (in his personal capacity) also has, and hopefully erase such a barbarous punishment from our nation's legal code of punishment.
“It is wrong to become absorbed in the divine law to such a degree as not to perceive human law. Death belongs to God alone. By what right do men touch that unknown thing?”
- Victor Hugo
Indeed if you are of the Abrahamic religious faith, then there's all the more reason you should leave the lives of human beings to the decision of your divine god and not mortal politicians.
Just detain the murderous criminals for life from society. There is no need to ape their vile acts by murdering them and euphemistically camouflage our foul actions as capital punishment.
Related:
(1) Forgotten But Unfortunately Not Entirely ...
(2) Sorry We Killed You
(3) Brotherhood of Death - Victims & Perpetrators
(4) Hot Babe: "No More Hot Seat!"
(5) Stupid if He's Smart, Smart if He's Stupid!
Related:
(1) Forgotten But Unfortunately Not Entirely ...
(2) Sorry We Killed You
(3) Brotherhood of Death - Victims & Perpetrators
(4) Hot Babe: "No More Hot Seat!"
Yep. Abolish Capital Punishment,but the pedophies being the exception.
ReplyDeleteno exception
DeleteWhat is the appropriate penalty for a criminal who raped, brutalised and then murdered an innocent girl, and remains unrepentant to this day ?
ReplyDeleteThis was an actual case.
Life Imprisonment with possibility of parole for good behaviour in as little as 20 years ?
That does not sound right. That is NOT right.
in some countries there are non-parolable life sentences
DeleteLife sentences, parolable or not, r still time limited legally.
DeleteIt is a misnomer to think that life sentence means sitting in gaol till u r dead!
Britain abolished Capital Punishment in 1965, and since then, the most severe available penalty for the most revolting crimes has been Life Imprisonment with a Whole Life Order. The sentencing judge can order that the jailed guilty person cannot be illegible for parole for the rest of his life.
DeleteMost of those sentenced to Whole Life imprisonment committed acts which just reading it would spoil your lunch or dinner.
In 2015 , the European Court of Human Rights ruled that UK Whole Life Orders violate a person's human rights. It ruled that there is a basic human right for a request for early prison release to be heard and considered.
The UK Government came up with a ridiculous subterfuge that Life Imprisonment with Whole Life Orders would be retained in UK law, but the prisoner will have the right to request their imprisonment be reviewed after 20 years.
Isn't that what you call a Parole Hearing ?
This is funny if it were not such a serious subject.
honestly i dun have answers for tis, what to do with one that bomb 20 innocent people?
ReplyDelete“For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
ReplyDelete~ Romans 13:4 (KJV)
Typical ulama-lized the power of God!
DeleteShould I said clericalized?
Oui...What did yr book said in such case?
Maybe 2x5, since they all come from the same source - an eye for an eye!