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Yong Vui Kong (born 23 January 1988) is a Malaysian citizen of Hakka Chinese descent who was sentenced to death by hanging in Singapore for carrying heroin. His sentence was reduced to life imprisonment and caning as a result of Singapore's amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act. ==Personal life== Yong is from the state of Sabah, Malaysia. He was working as a "runner" (meaning courier or mule) for an unidentified criminal boss,〔(Young Malaysian Facing Execution in Singapore ) Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples, 10 November 2009.〕 when he was arrested in 2007 with of heroin. He was 19 years old at the time, and thus not an adult (the age of majority in Singapore is 21 years). He is also said to be ignorant of the death penalty for smuggling drugs or that the package he was carrying contained drugs. Yong was originally represented in the High Court by Kelvin Lim. Due to Yong's young age, and since execution is mandatory for a person convicted of trafficking in more than of diamorphine, the trial judge Justice Choo Han Teck asked the Prosecution to consider reducing the charge against him. The Prosecution declined, and Yong was found guilty and sentenced to death.〔(Save Vui Kong: Yong Vui Kong's journey ).〕 Human rights lawyer Madasamy Ravi took over Yong's case and succeeded in obtaining a stay of execution. However, on 14 May 2010, the Court of Appeal of Singapore ruled in ''Yong Vui Kong v. Public Prosecutor'' that the mandatory death penalty imposed by the Misuse of Drugs Act〔.〕 did not infringe Articles 9(1) and 12(1) of the Constitution.〔(Save Malaysian on death row in Singapore ), Loyar Burok (Malaysian law blog).〕 Defence lawyers have argued that Yong's execution violates human rights and the separation of powers in government.〔(Heroin smuggler challenges Singapore death sentence ). The Guardian, 15 March 2010.〕 M. Ravi has asked Malaysia to bring the case to the International Court of Justice.〔 In July 2012 the Singapore government agreed to ratify changes to the mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking and murder offenses - those currently pending sentence of execution may apply to have their sentence of execution changed to life imprisonment. 〔(Glimmer of hope for Vui Kong ), by Roger Tan, The Sunday Star, 23 September 2012.〕 On 14 November 2013, Yong's death penalty was officially lifted. He has become the first drug trafficker on death row to have his sentence reduced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane, under amendments made to the Misuse of Drugs act.〔(Death penalty lifted for Yong Vui Kong ) TODAY Online, 14 November 2013.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yong Vui Kong」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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