A Dutchman imprisoned in the United States for 37 years is suing the Dutch state to be able to serve the remainder of his sentence in the Netherlands.

Jaitsen Singh, who was born in Suriname when it was still part of the Dutch kingdom and who has a Dutch passport, was sentenced to 56 years in jail in 1986 for ordering the killing of his wife and daughter.

Singh has always denied he had anything to do with the murders and the main witness in the case turned out to have been bribed by prosecutor. Singh, 76, has now served 37 years of his sentence.

‘I don’t have much time left. Let me die with my family around me,’ Singh said in a video message made public by his lawyer Rachel Imamkhan.

‘Singh is in bad health,’ Imamkhan told broadcaster NOS. ‘He had coronavirus last year and was on a ventilator.’ It is too late to seek a pardon but it is possible to start a legal procedure to transfer Singh to the Netherlands, she said.

A motion to ask the government to do its best to have Singh brought to the Netherlands was supported by a majority of MPs last year. However,  the state advocate argues that Singh has ‘insufficient ties’ with the Netherlands because he lived there for only four years, whereas he spent 13 years in the United States.

‘I was born Dutch. I have always spoken Dutch, I even think in Dutch,’ Singh said in his message. ‘

The court will publish its ruling on May 17.