TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Malaysian murder convict has been hanged in Singapore, according to police, hours after the city-state’s highest court rejected a final appeal against his execution.

“A 32-year-old male Malaysian national, Jabing Kho, had his death sentence carried out on 20 May 2016 at Changi prison complex,” the Singapore police force said in a statement on Friday.

Kho, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for the murder of a Chinese construction worker, had been due to hang in the prison at dawn on Friday, but was granted a brief last-minute reprieve after his lawyer filed a challenge.

The court of appeal heard the latest plea on Friday morning but said it raised no new arguments about the 2008 robbery attempt, clearing the way for the execution.

“This case has been about many things but today, it’s about the abuse of the process of the court,” said the appeal court judge, Chao Hick Tin. Allowing Kho to continue with legal challenges would throw the judicial system into disrepute, he added.

Executions in Singapore are normally carried out by hanging at dawn on Fridays.

CHOIRUL AMINUDDIN | THE GUARDIAN