We know that the Malaysian courts are still running throughout the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). It’s evident that our neighbour Singapore is doing the same during their Circuit Breaker equivalent. And in what is likely the bleakest use of a video conferencing app, the Singapore High Courts has handed out a death sentence via Zoom.
A Malaysian, Punithan Genasan, was sentenced to hang after being found guilty of being complicit in heroin trafficking. The Straits Times reports that this is the first death sentence handed via remote hearing in the country. And according to Reuters, the second in the world, with another one in Nigeria earlier in the month.
The crime in question occurred all the way back in 2011, involving at least 28.5g of the substance. He fled to Malaysia after the deal, but was eventually arrested, and extradited to Singapore in 2016. The trial itself began in January 2018, with the sentence only being handed last week.
That’s one way to make use of Zoom. The video conferencing platform has had a pretty rough time last month. And though this is no fault of the software, it just happens to be another unfortunate event tied to its name.
(Source: Straits Times, Reuters, CNET)
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