The execution was the second in three weeks and comes amid growing concern over the city-state’s use of the death penalty for drug offenses.
Singapore has hanged a man for selling cannabis, the second execution in three weeks.
The 37-year-old ethnic Malay Singaporean was executed at Changi Prison on the island’s east coast at dawn on Wednesday, after a last-minute attempt to reopen his case was rejected by an appeals court without a hearing.
The man, who has not been named because his family has asked for privacy, was convicted in 2019 of selling about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, said Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which campaigns for the abolition of the penalty. of death in Singapore.
His desire to reopen the case was based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a smaller amount, which he admitted to owning, but the court rejected it, he added.
On April 26, Singapore hanged 46-year-old Tangaraju Suppiah for selling more than 1kg (2.2 pounds) of cannabis, despite last-minute appeals for clemency from his family and activists to international attention.
They argued that Tangaraju was not given adequate legal advice and that he was denied access to a Tamil interpreter when he was questioned by the police.
Under Singapore law, selling more than 500gm (1.1 pounds) of cannabis can result in the death penalty.
“If we don’t come together to stop this, we fear that this killing will continue for weeks and months to come,” Annamalai told the Associated Press news agency.
After pausing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore hanged 11 people last year – all of them for drug offences.
The killing a year ago of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with learning disabilities, caused particular outrage and prompted unusual protests in the city-state where demonstrations are tightly controlled.
Under international human rights law, those countries that retain the death penalty must only use it for the “most serious crimes” which include intentional murder.
But Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs argues that the death penalty is “an important component of Singapore’s criminal justice system and is effective in keeping Singapore safe and secure”.
Authorities say all prisoners will get due process of law.
In a March report, the drug policy reform group Harm Reduction International (HRI) found that despite the global shift to abolition, there were at least 285 drug-related killings last year, more than double the number last year.
“This figure is likely to represent only one percent of all drug-related killings worldwide,” said the HRI, citing the intense secrecy surrounding the death penalty in many of the countries that use it the most. among them, including China, Vietnam and North Korea.
