COVID-19 In Singapore: The First Online Court To Receive Criticism From Human Rights Activists

Photo illustration (Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - For the first time, a death penalty trial was held via a video phone using the Zoom application in Singapore. The trial for the drug transaction case drew criticism from the human rights activist community.

The convict was a 37-year-old Malaysian national, Punithan Genasan. He was convicted of his role in a heroin transaction in 2011, according to court documents cited by The Guardian.

"For the safety of all involved, the trial process was conducted via video conference," said a spokesman for the Singapore high court.

It will be the first trial to have sentenced him to death by remote (remote) in a Singapore court. After receiving the verdict, Genasan's lawyer Peter Fernando admitted that he was considering an appeal process.

He himself has no objection to the remote verdict procedure as long as the verdict is still clear. Meanwhile, Zoom in California itself has not responded to the incident.

Reaping criticism from human rights activists

In fact, criticism came from groups voicing human rights related to the use of Zoom in the trial process of major cases. One of those criticisms came from Human Rights Watch Asia, who said that using remote technology such as Zoom to execute someone made the polemic worse.

"The use of the death penalty in Singapore is inherently cruel and inhumane, and using remote technology like Zoom to execute someone is making it worse," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division. Previously HRW also criticized a similar case in Nigeria where the death penalty was conveyed through Zoom.

The COVID-19 pandemic has postponed many trials in Singapore due to the lockdown policy that will be held from early April to June 1. Meanwhile, cases deemed important have been processed remotely.

As is well known, the Lion Country implements a zero tolerance policy for drug cases. In the last few decades the country has hanged hundreds of people both outside and from within the country for committing narcotics offenses.