Singapore's 2nd execution in 3 weeks over drug trafficking sparks global outcry
Singapore hanged a man for trafficking drugs, authorities said, marking the city-state's second execution in three weeks.
The man was convicted in 2019 of trafficking around 1.5 kilos of cannabis, Kokila Annamalai of local rights group Transformative Justice Collective said as per news agency AFP.
Singapore has some of the world's toughest anti-narcotics laws. As per the rules, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis can result in the death penalty.
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"A 36-year-old Singaporean man had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex," a spokesman for Singapore's prison service told AFP.
Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau said that it would not release the name of the man to respect his family's wish for privacy.
"The person was accorded full due process under the law, and had access to legal counsel throughout the process," it said. A last-ditch appeal to review the case and stay his execution was dismissed, it was reported.
The execution was the second in Singapore this year after another man, 46, was hanged on April 26 for conspiracy to smuggle one-kilo cannabis. Following the two executions, international calls to abolish the death penalty in Singapore grew.
Thirteen death row inmates have been hanged since Singapore resumed executions in March 2022. Activists said they will continue to push for Singapore to abolish capital punishment.
"The call to the Singapore government (to scrap the death penalty) has been loud and clear globally, and we will repeat the call: Singapore has to halt the executions," Amnesty International's executive director for Malaysia Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said.
