Singapore hangs 2 drug traffickers regardless of opposition

KUALA LUMPUR: Two drug traffickers had been hanged in Singapore on Thursday, bringing the variety of executions this 12 months within the city-state to 4 regardless of rising calls to abolish its dying penalty.
Activists mentioned the jail division handed the belongings and dying certificates for Malaysian nationwide Kalwant Singh and Singaporean Norasharee Gous to their households after their execution Thursday morning.
Amnesty Worldwide mentioned Singapore is certainly one of simply 4 international locations recognized to have executed individuals for drug-related offenses lately, going towards a world development towards abolishing the dying penalty.
“Singapore has as soon as once more executed individuals convicted of drug-related offenses in violation of worldwide legislation, callously disregarding public outcry,” mentioned Emerlynne Gill, Amnesty Worldwide’s deputy regional director for analysis.
“The dying penalty is rarely the answer and we oppose it unconditionally. There isn’t any proof that it acts as a novel deterrent to crime,” Gill mentioned in a press release.
Kalwant, who was convicted in 2016 of bringing heroin into Singapore, was the second Malaysian to be executed in lower than three months. In late April, the hanging of one other Malaysian sparked a world outcry as a result of he was believed to be mentally disabled.
Kalwant filed a last-minute attraction on the eve of his execution on grounds that he was a mere courier and that he had cooperated with police, nevertheless it was rejected by Singapore’s prime court docket, activists mentioned.
Critics say that Singapore’s dying penalty has largely snared low-level mules and performed little to cease drug traffickers and arranged syndicates. However Singapore’s authorities defends it as mandatory to guard its residents.
“We urge the Singaporean authorities to right away cease this newest wave of hangings and impose a moratorium on executions as a step in the direction of ending this shameful and inhuman punishment,” Amnesty mentioned.
4 others drug traffickers, together with two extra Malaysians, had been scheduled to be hanged earlier however their executions had been delayed pending authorized challenges.