Singapore hangs 2 drug traffickers despite opposition

Appeals towards the executions went unheeded (AP)

KUALA LUMPUR: Two drug traffickers have 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 demise penalty.
Activists stated the jail division handed the belongings and demise certificates for Malaysian nationwide Kalwant Singh and Singaporean Norasharee Gous to their households after their execution Thursday morning.
Amnesty Worldwide stated Singapore is considered one of simply 4 international locations recognized to have executed folks for drug-related offences lately, going towards a worldwide pattern towards abolishing the demise penalty.
“Singapore has as soon as once more executed folks convicted of drug-related offenses in violation of worldwide regulation, callously disregarding public outcry,” stated Emerlynne Gill, Amnesty Worldwide’s deputy regional director for analysis.
“The demise penalty is rarely the answer and we oppose it unconditionally. There is no such thing as a proof that it acts as a singular deterrent to crime,” Gill stated 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 global 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 courtroom, activists stated.
Critics say that Singapore’s demise penalty has principally snared low-level mules and performed little to cease drug traffickers and arranged syndicates. However Singapore’s authorities defends it as crucial 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 direction of ending this shameful and inhuman punishment,” Amnesty stated.
4 others drug traffickers, together with two extra Malaysians, have been scheduled to be hanged earlier however their executions have been delayed pending authorized challenges.