“There is nothing more I could do for these 2 men. I am so sorry. I did my best as a lawyer to stop the execution but I ultimately failed.” – Charles Yeo, counsel for Pausi and Rozlan
Pausi Bin Jefridin, a man whose IQ has been assessed to be 67, and his co-accused Rozlan Bin Bakar, were supposed to be hanged at dawn earlier today (16 January 2022) at dawn. Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media has been silent about these impending executions.
https://twitter.com/kixes/status/1493773509654630401
You can read some brief facts about the case in our earlier article.
Due to a series of last-ditch legal challenges filed by their pro-bono lawyer, Charles, who was briefed just last week, they were not hanged today.
Over the course of 24 hours, Charles appeared in Court 3 times. Out of which, 2 were before Singapore’s Apex Court. According to Charles, he also went up against a Senior Counsel from the AGC during these 3 hearings.
We understand that the first hearing on Tuesday at (16 February 2022) at 2.30pm was a criminal motion application before the Court of Appeal. The hearings this morning and afternoon were a judicial review application before the High Court, and an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of the said judicial review application, respectively.
We are not apprised of the arguments canvassed at these hearings. However, all 3 applications have been dismissed. It is uncertain if any further applications can/will be filed.
https://twitter.com/kixes/status/1493960948234985473
Due to the short span of time between the dismissal of the judicial review application and the appeal, Charles and his team had to resort to crowdfunding to raise the filing fees and security for costs. According to Charles, the AGC may also seek personal costs orders against him, although he did say that he is confident that he can raise funds to pay the costs orders.
Charles Yeo Apologises
After the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, Charles posted a series of emotionally-charged videos where he expressed sorrow and disappointment with the outcome. He apologised to his audience for “failing” and said that he was not good enough to stop their deaths.
Many online expressed support for Charles and his relentless efforts to do whatever it takes to save the 2 men.
Charles also posted a video where he was tearing up. In the video, he shared how sad he was at the prospect of the 2 men being executed.
https://www.tiktok.com/@wakeupsingapore/video/7065294321083272449?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
In our view, Charles did his best. The pressure was immense, the stakes were high, and he was only briefed on extremely short notice. There is absolutely nothing that he needs to apologise for.
Pausi has an IQ of 67
During their re-sentencing applications in 2017, the lawyers for Roslan and Pausi both raised issues relating to their respective client’s alleged abnormality of mind.
Counsel for Pausi argued that his client, whose IQ level was assessed to be 67, has an “had an arrested or retarded development of mind as a result of his exceptionally low and restricted education“.
For purposes of comparison, Nagaentheran, whose execution was opposed by more than 100,000 people, was assessed to have an IQ of 69.
Counsel for Rozlan submitted that his client had “limited capacity for judgment, decision-making, consequential thinking, impulse control and executive function”.
Ultimately, the Court found that these matters did not change the outcome as, despite a low score, both Rozlan and Pausi “had displayed competence and comprehension of what they were doing when they carried out their act of trafficking in the drugs”.
Both their appeal’s against the High Court’s decision on resentencing were dismissed by Singapore’s Apex Court. on 26 September 2018.
Aside from the resentencing process, Roslan had also filed a criminal motion in 2015 to adduce new evidence, but his application was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 9 May 2016.
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