…life imprisonment substituted for death penalty
FOUR convicted murderers who were on death row awaiting execution had their death penalty removed yesterday by Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, S.C.
They were on death row for periods ranging from 16 to 23 years. The men whose death penalties were reduced to life imprisonment, and who will have to serve terms  of about 15 years imprisonment are: Vivakanand Singh, convicted of murder in 1996;  Noel Thomas, convicted in June, 1994; Lawrence Chan, convicted in 1995; and Muntaz Ally, convicted in 1989.
Yesterday’s removal  of the death penalty followed  the hearing of constitutional motions by the Chief Justice  from four lawyers,  Jainarayan Singh,  representing Vivakanand Singh; Mr. Nigel Hughes,  representing  Lawrence Chan and Noel Thomas; and R. N. Burch-Smith representing Muntaz Ally.
According to the lawyers, the hearings had been  going on  for quite a while, since the Mercy Committee had not sat for a number of years.
One lawyer said that at the last hearing, the Chief Justice had given the respondents’ lawyer two months to have the Committee sit.
With nothing being done, and the applicants continuing to complain about their hardships, the Chief Justice took action yesterday and removed the death penalties.
Speaking to the Chronicle, Jainarayan Singh said that his client, Vivakanand Singh, complained of the inhuman and degrading punishment his client had to go through.
He said that his client had to be measured for hanging on three occasions.
He said, also, his client informed him that while he was waiting, two convicts in adjoining cells were measured and hanged.
His client has been on death row since 1996, where he has been allowed to see daylight one hour a day at the time of emptying his faeces and urine.
One of the applicants is blind and another has tuberculosis.
It is understood that the term of life imprisonment the applicants will have to serve is in the vicinity of 15 years.