Scroll to read his final letter to us.
Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin received an execution notice on Sunday morning (19 January 2025) giving him only four days’ notice of the prison’s intention to hang him on 23 January. This shortened notice period is due to the fact that Syed had been issued execution notices in the past. But every such notice is torment for both the prisoner and their loved ones.
It was just under two weeks ago that Syed received news that his clemency appeal to President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was rejected. In his clemency appeal, he asked for his sentence to be commuted after 4 years of fighting the prison correspondence challenge. In that case, the Court had found that the Prisons had illegally forwarded multiple death row prisoners’ correspondence to the AGC, and that AGC lawyers had viewed and even referenced the correspondence in their submissions to the court in one of Syed’s cases.
Syed said in his clemency petition that he was unable to seek a judicial review of his conviction arising from the prison correspondence case, as he could not afford the fees his lawyer was asking. Syed’s sister, Sharifah, has written a letter in response to the clemency rejection, which we reproduce in this article.
Syed is a brave fighter for the abolition of the death penalty and does not hesitate to speak out for himself and his fellow death row prisoners. Even with so little time left for himself, he has asked for his recent experiences to be made public, in the hopes that no other prisoner will have to go through what he went through. The following is an account from Syed, conveyed via his sister who has been visiting him:
Early last week, Syed began to feel intense pain at night, and had to seek medical attention. The prison gave him one type of medication, then another and another, but nothing helped with the pain. Syed asked to be sent to the hospital but was told that the prison doctor was “not very keen” to send him there. He was eventually sent to the hospital in the early hours of the morning. He was diagnosed with pancreatitis and a stent was inserted. He was also given an appointment in about three weeks’ time to evaluate his condition. He returned to prison at the end of the week, and had only been back in his death row cell for about a day before he received his execution notice.
Syed worries about other prisoners who may have to struggle as he did to persuade the prison authorities that he had to be sent to hospital for urgent attention. He also told his family that prisoners on death row have been moved to new cells that leave them far more isolated than they had previously been; it is now no longer possible to talk to another prisoner in the next cell, as the cells are further apart from each other. Where the previous cells had half-grille doors, these new cells have solid metal doors. It’s not so bad during the rainy season when it’s cooler, Syed says, but he worries about conditions when it gets hotter.
Syed’s courage and determination have made a huge impact on Singapore’s anti-death penalty movement, and been a big inspiration for TJC. Although Syed is no longer trying to fight for a stay of execution for himself, we continue to call for a halt to all executions, including his. Syed’s spirit and memory will live on in our fight to end the death penalty in Singapore.
Read Syed’s final letter to us:
From my teens (in RTC) to my 20s (DRCs), I’ve never felt shame for any of my crimes. To me, when I committed any offence and I got caught and was punished for it by doing time behind bars, I felt that my crimes and the punishments that followed was a debt that I had already paid in full.
To add shame or regret to my debt to society would be adding a second stupidity to the first stupidity, which was the commission of the crime. I inadvertently created a world in which I genuinely believed that society hated me and wanted me removed from the picture. Even life was moving too fast for me to keep up.
As an outsider, I was always on the outside looking in. The happiness, success, prosperity and the social contract that I bore witness to around me was beyond me, therefore I figured, why pine for things that I felt I could never achieve?
In 2020, when I was called up for my scheduled judicial execution, I was informed by a group of friends who had always been with me in spirit, in thoughts and in prayers that I deserved a second chance. They felt I deserved compassion. The love I felt was an unselfish kind, a love that is not confused with feelings of attachment. The love I received instead was unconditional and its intent, to encourage me to be the best version of myself.
I was humbled then, and for once in my life, I felt shame. It’s a good kind of shame because I felt I belonged and was accepted, warts and all, which meant that I had always been part of the community. The shame was strong enough to remind me that although I had done wrong, I was still part of a community that accepts me with their encouragement, that I do possess the potential to repent and mend my ways. I doubt I’ll ever get to see the light of day outside these walls to put my repentance to practice, to do some good for a change. However, the intent in my heart to do good and to do no evil would have to suffice. I have changed, and I feel good. I have agency of perseverance.
Thank you all for all the help you’ve given, it is appreciated and your kindness and dedication will always be remembered.
Your fellow Singaporean,
Syed
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