"We have all lived under the shadow of the death penalty"
An appeal for Omar
Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj faces execution on 16 April 2026. His wife Maria, living in Germany, has written to President Tharman seeking clemency for Omar. The clemency letter is reproduced in full below.
12 April 2026
To:
His Excellency
The President of the Republic of Singapore
Through:
Mr. Julius Lim
Principal Private Secretary to the President of the Republic of Singapore
Office of the President of the Republic of Singapore
Istana, Orchard Road, Singapore 238823
Dear President Tharman Shanmugaratnam,
Re: Appeal for Clemency for Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj
I am Alexandra Maria Piel, wife of Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj, who faces execution on 16 April 2026. I am writing to you today from Germany with a heavy heart but also with great respect for your office and the principles of justice and mercy that you represent.
I am pleading with you to spare Omar the noose, and commute his sentence to one of life imprisonment.
In 2018, Omar was arrested crossing Woodlands Checkpoint with what was ultimately found to be 1,009g of cannabis. He was convicted for the importation of drugs and now faces the mandatory death penalty.
At the time of his arrest, Omar was no longer resident in Singapore. We had relocated with our son, Naqeeb, to Germany just two years prior. We made this decision because of my poor health and also because my German citizenship allowed us to access better disability support for Naqeeb, who was born with cerebral palsy and suffered from health conditions that left him partially blind and deaf, entirely wheelchair-bound, and reliant on a tube to feed him food and fluids. We received almost 1,000 euros a month for Naqeeb, the highest level of disability support there is in Germany, in addition to other welfare support.
As best I could recall, from our relocation to the time of his arrest, Omar returned to Singapore only twice. The first was in January 2017, when his mother passed away and he had to return to support the rest of his family. I did not return with Omar as I was pregnant with our daughter, Amal.
The second time Omar returned to Singapore was when he was arrested. He had returned home to spend the holy month of Ramadhan with his family. Again, I could not travel with him because I had to care for Naqeeb, given his severe disabilities, and our young daughter.
I was in complete shock when I learnt that Omar had been arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint returning to Singapore after a day trip to Johor Bahru with his father. It made no sense to me that Omar, who had a life with his family in Germany, would end up being involved in drug trafficking. Omar had started learning German and was already preparing to find a good job. It was even more incomprehensible to me that Omar had any reason to bring the drugs in the boot of the car his father was driving, placing his family at risk.
During his remand from 2018 to 2021, Omar and I were able to communicate through e-letters, but this ceased when he was convicted and then placed on death row. I understand that prisoners on death row do not get access to a digital tablet to send and receive e-letters. While Omar has written physical letters to me, I often struggle with writing back to him. It is as if having to put words down on paper compounds the pain of our separation. Everything has seemed too much for me after I was told that Omar had been sentenced to death.
Between Naqeeb’s need for special medical care and our family’s financial circumstances after Omar’s incarceration which made traveling between Germany and Singapore difficult, we have never been able to visit Omar in person. Confined within the four walls of the prison, Omar has missed the golden years of his children growing up, save for the occasional photo that his father has been able to pass to him.
For a long period of time, Omar was never able to speak to the children or me over the phone. It was only around COVID-19 that the prison allowed occasional calls. These calls were made more regular after the German embassy in Singapore supported our plea to the authorities for more phone calls.
I have always tried to protect Amal by telling that her father is working in Singapore, and that it is simply too expensive to visit him. On the rare occasions that Amal and Omar get to speak briefly over the phone, they would sometimes struggle to engage with each other. Of course, I cannot blame Amal – she had been deprived of truly knowing her father, whom she last saw at the tender age of one.
It also never felt like there was an opportune moment to tell her what is truly happening to Omar. Amal is an especially sensitive and emotional child. I cannot bear to put her through the pain and trauma of knowing the truth. I always thought that there would still be time to break the news gently to her somehow. But time is now running out for my family.
I carry a lot of pain when I see Amal grow close to the fathers of her friends in school, longing for the affection of a father figure. Having grown up without a father myself, I do not want her to have the same life as me. Amal will now have to say her final goodbyes without truly knowing what is happening to her father. At some point in her life, she will learn the real truth, and I dare not imagine what that will be like.
In writing this letter, I speak not only on my own behalf, but also in the name of my daughter, who is still too young to raise her own voice, yet whose feelings, sense of loss, and longing I carry within me and seek to express here on her behalf.
Our years of separation as a result of Omar’s incarceration have been greatly difficult as I have had to assume full responsibility for the care and upbringing of our children. It has often left me with a deep sense of inadequacy as a mother, despite my best efforts in the circumstances. As if the pain of our family separation has not been enough, another tragedy struck our family in November last year: Naqeeb, our beloved son, passed away at the age of 11. Our family was still reeling from this devastating loss when we were notified by the prison of Omar’s impending execution.
Since Omar’s notice of execution was issued on 2 April 2026, I have had many sleepless nights. I cannot travel to Singapore with Amal to visit Omar due to my health – in November last year, I was hospitalised for a month because of my medical conditions. It pains me because I know that Omar truly wishes to see my daughter and I in person. I also worry about who will take care of Amal if something happens to me – living here in Germany, my aging mother is my sole source of support.
Mr. President, I am writing all this to say that our family has already paid a terrible price since Omar’s arrest. I ask that you grant Omar, who has shown nothing but remorse for his actions, a second chance. This act of mercy will give not only Omar, but our whole family, a new lease of life. We have all lived under the shadow of the death penalty for many years. Please give Amal, who is nine years old this year, the opportunity to experience the joy of reconnecting with her father, and not the irrevocable pain and regret of never having gotten to know him.
I live in Germany, where use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes has been legalised and regulated since 2024. While it is an imperfect model, with experts and policymakers continuing to debate much-needed changes to the law, it is worlds away from the harsh cruelties of the death penalty that Omar faces and which our family has been profoundly impacted by.
Last year, I was deeply moved by your historic decision to grant clemency to Tristan Tan Yi Rui. This act of compassion and fairness was seen by many around the world as a powerful sign of a justice system that is capable of recognising unique human circumstances and the possibility of redemption.
I humbly and sincerely ask that you extend that same compassion to Omar and our family.
Yours Sincerely,
Alexandra Maria Piel
Wife to Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj