With 24 hours left before he was to be hanged for his crimes, Malaysian murderer Kho Jabing received a stay of execution on his death sentence. Jabing's lawyers had filed a criminal motion yesterday at the Singapore Court of Appeals to request a remittance of his case.
The court granted the stay of execution but has not mentioned when the case will be mentioned again.
Local activist group We Believe in Second Chances and other international anti-death penalty groups have welcomed the move, although they pointed out that the stay in his execution does not meant that he will be pardoned. They have vowed to continue pushing for clemency.
On her twitter page, local activist Kirsten Han wrote today, "The stay Jabing received today merely delays - and doesn’t halt - the execution. We have to keep working for him to be granted clemency."
Jabing's family were jubilant when they received the news. His sister, Jumai, and his 54-year old mother, were both in Singapore when they received the news.
"I couldn't sleep the whole night. I was just praying and praying for a miracle," Jumai said.
"And this morning, when I heard the news, I'm just speechless with joy."
She thanked the Singaporean government and rights groups that had helped appeal for Jabing's death sentence to be commuted.
"My mother is so happy, she is weeping right now"
Amnesty International Malaysia has also welcomed the court decision, and repeated its demands for the court to commute Jabing's sentence to life imprisonment or that he be granted clemency.
"We call upon the Malaysian and Singaporean authorities to study the details of Jabing's case, and they will see why we know that the death penalty is not an answer for Jabing, or for any other person on death row," said Amnesty International's executive director Sharmini Darshni.
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