'Prabagaran Accepted His Fate But Always Maintained His Innocence'

'Prabagaran Accepted His Fate But Always Maintained His Innocence' - S. Prabagaran, the Malaysian who was executed in Singapore on Friday for drug trafficking accepted his fate but always maintained his innocence till the end.

The 29-year-old who is from Johor Baru, was hanged to death at the Changi Prison in the wee hours of the morning.

He was cremated at 6.30pm Friday at the Mandai crematorium in Singapore.

His ashes would be brought back to Johor Baru, said We Believe in Second Chances co-founder Kirsten Han.

"Prabagaran always told his cousin that he was innocent but that he accepted his fate," said Han.

She added those who were with him said he was jovial and joking with the prison guards even during the approaching hours of the execution.

The Singapore Court of Appeal had on Thursday dismissed an application by Prabagaran's lawyers, saying he had already received due process and the application was an "abuse of process".

His lawyers contended that he still had an appeal pending in Malaysian courts, where lawyers had filed an application to compel the Malaysian government to take his case to the International Court of Justice amid concerns he did not get a fair trail.

Prabagaran was sentenced to hang for trying to smuggle a form of pure heroin into Singapore in April 2012.

The Malaysian, who was working in a petrol station, was arrested at the Woodlands checkpoint for possession of 22.24g of heroin, which were found in a black bundle in the centre armrest console of the car he was driving.

He had said that he borrowed the car from a friend to enter Singapore that day because he was afraid that his motorcycle would be repossessed.

Amnesty International criticised the execution, saying it was a shocking violation of the human right to life.

"That an appeal was pending on this case in his home country at the time of execution, and that there were serious concerns about the fairness of his trial, underlines a flagrant disregard for due process in profoundly dubious circumstances," said its director for South East Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez.