Just last Friday (22 Jul), a 64-year-old Singaporean man, Nazeri bin Lajim, was executed for drug trafficking offences.
And whilst the heated debate on the death penalty rages on, another man was hanged on similar charges less than a week later.
That day, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) released a statement saying that a 50-year-old Singaporean was executed at Changi Prison after his clemency petition failed.
They did not release any personal information about him to respect his family’s wish for privacy.
According to CNB, a male Singaporean had his capital sentence carried out on Tuesday (26 Jul) at Changi Prison Complex.
They refrained from revealing the name of the person to honour his family’s wish for privacy.
Source: Google Maps
The 50-year-old was convicted on charges of trafficking in controlled drugs.
CNB states that he was accorded full due process under the law and had legal counsel representing him throughout.
He had also submitted a petition of clemency to the President, but it was unsuccessful.
While CNB’s details were scarce, Transformative Justice Collective has revealed that the inmate was a 49-year-old Malay man.
He has reportedly been in prison since 2015 after being convicted of trafficking cannabis and was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty.
Under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, anyone who imports or exports over 200g of cannabis will receive the death penalty.
Transformative Justice Collective went on to share that the man was one of the 17 prisoners who filed a historic suit accusing Singapore of racial bias when prosecuting capital punishment cases.
They presented statistical evidence to argue that there is a higher likelihood of Malay offenders getting the death sentence for drug offences in comparison with other ethnicities.
The High Court dismissed the civil case on 2 Dec 2021.
Activist Kokila Annamalai noted that the latest execution is the sixth one in Singapore in the last four months.
In their statement, CNB reiterated that they reserve capital punishment for only the most serious crimes.
This includes the trafficking of significant quantities of drugs, which can cause harm to drug abusers, their families, and society.
The Bureau added that capital punishment is “part of Singapore’s comprehensive harm prevention strategy that targets both drug demand and supply”.
Back in February, The Guardian reported that executions in Singapore came to a halt for two years due to a number of pending court applications.
However, inmates continued to receive the death penalty. This has sparked fears that there is now a death row “backlog” that authorities are trying to clear.
Recently, the topic of capital punishment has sparked many discussions both in Singapore and internationally, with the United Nations and Amnesty International calling for a stop to hangings.
Still, authorities have maintained that the death penalty is a necessary deterrent for would-be drug offenders.
Regardless of your stance on the matter, the fact is that another family in Singapore has lost a son. We offer his family our condolences and hope that they’ll be able to get through this difficult time.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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