Gobi Avedian | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 April 1988 Johor, Malaysia |
| Occupation | Security guard (former) |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated at Changi Prison since 11 December 2014. |
| Criminal charge | Capital drug trafficking of heroin (acquitted) Attempted importation of a Class C drug (convicted) |
| Penalty | Death penalty, later commuted to 15 years' imprisonment and ten strokes of the cane |
Gobi a/l Avedian (born 7 April 1988) is a Malaysian drug convict who is currently serving a 15-year term of imprisonment in Singapore for attempted importation of a Class C drug. Gobi was at first, charged in 2014 with the capital charge of trafficking over 40.22g of heroin, which attracts the death penalty in Singapore. In his defence, Gobi stated that he was unaware he was carrying heroin and thought he was carrying "chocolate drugs" as what his two friends told him when he received an offer to deliver the drugs for money to pay his daughter's surgery fees.
At the end of the trial, the High Court acquitted Gobi of the original charge after accepting his defence and account. As such, the High Court sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment and ten strokes of the cane for a lower charge in May 2017. Upon the prosecution's appeal however, Gobi was convicted of the original capital charge and sentenced to death by the Court of Appeal in October 2018, as the appellate court found that the lower court has erred in finding Gobi not guilty.
Subsequently, Gobi filed for clemency, which was rejected in July 2019. He later made two different appeals; the first to delay his execution and the second to re-open his case. Although Gobi lost his bid for a stay of execution in February 2020, he was eventually successful in persuading the Court of Appeal in October 2020 to re-open his case in light of a 2019 landmark case ruling, and he subsequently has his death sentence commuted to his original sentence of 15 years' imprisonment and ten strokes of the cane, thus enabling him to escape the death penalty a second time.[1][2]