by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary—General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Monday, 12th August 1985:
Call on Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed to stay the execution of Sim Kie Chon until the Pardons Board and Yang di—Pertuan Agong had opportunity to reconsider people’s appeal for clemency for Sim
Sim Kie Chon’s family has received a letter from the Prisons authorities to see Sin Kie Chon for the last time, on August 14 which means that Sim would be executed in the early hours of the next day, August 15, 1985.
This is most shocking, especially as the Malaysians have started a campaign to petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong to exercise his prerogative of mergy to reprieve Sim’s death sentence to life imprisonment. Organisations inside and outside Malaysia have also appealed for clemency for Sin Kie Chon.
There can be no reason for any indecent haste to execute Sun Kie Chon. The defence counsel for Sim, Karam Singh, has complained that he had been ‘rushed’ in preparing Sim’s appeal records to the Supreme Council. Let there be no cmp1aint, either by Malaysians or by people – world-wide that Sim’s execution had been ‘rushed’ to deny the people in Malaysia and throughout the world to appeal to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for clemency for Sim.
I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohmed, to stay the execution of Sim until the Pardons Board and the Yang di Pertuan Agong had the opportunity to reconsider Sim’s appeal for pardon and the public’s appeal for clemency for Sim.