Singapore conducts two more executions—activists

Activists hold placards as they attend a candlelight vigil against the impending execution of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, sentenced to death for trafficking heroin into Singapore, outside the Singaporean embassy in Kuala Lumpur on November 8, 2021. AFP

SINGAPORE —Singapore hanged two drug traffickers Thursday in what campaigners condemned as a “shameful and inhuman punishment”, taking to four the number of executions in the city-state since March.

The latest executions come after the hanging of a mentally disabled man in April sparked widespread international outrage, with the European Union and United Nations among those speaking out against it.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drugs laws, and insists that capital punishment remains an effective deterrent against trafficking despite growing pressure to abolish it.

Those executed Thursday were Kalwant Singh, a 32-year-old from neighboring Malaysia, and Singaporean Norasharee Gous, said prominent rights campaigner Kirsten Han.

Han told AFP that Kalwant’s sister had been given his death certificate, and that Norasharee’s family had brought his remains to a mosque.

Prisons officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Amnesty International said Singapore’s use of the death penalty was “a blatant violation of human rights”.

“We urge the Singaporean authorities to immediately stop this latest wave of hangings and impose a moratorium on executions as a step towards ending this shameful and inhuman punishment,” said the group’s Emerlynne Gil.

Kalwant and Norasharee were convicted in 2016 of trafficking heroin in the same case.

The Malaysian lodged a last-ditch appeal Wednesday, with his lawyers arguing he provided information that helped authorities arrest a key suspected drug trafficker.

But a three-judge panel dismissed the appeal, saying drug enforcement officials did not use any information he provided to arrest the suspect.

After a hiatus of over two years, Singapore resumed executions in March with the hanging of a Singaporean drug trafficker, and activists fear more will be conducted in the coming months.

In a recent BBC interview, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam defended Singapore’s position on the death penalty, saying there is “clear evidence that it is a serious deterrent for would-be drug traffickers”.

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