Crime & Justice

Singapore executes man for trafficking cannabis

Singapore, Jul 26 (EFE).- Singapore hanged a 49-year-old man Tuesday for trafficking cannabis, the sixth execution in four months in the city-state.

The news was confirmed by activist Kokila Annamalai, who posted Tuesday on Twitter that “We have confirmation that a 49 year-old Singaporean Malay man was executed (…) at Changi Prison. He has lived in prison since 2015, after being convicted of trafficking in cannabis…”

While neighboring countries such as Thailand have relaxed the cultivation and consumption of cannabis, Singapore maintains one of the world’s most draconian anti-drug laws which can carry the death penalty.

Singapore executed another man Friday, 64-year-old Singaporean Nazeri Lajim, with a long history of drug use and other drug offenses, who had been sentenced in 2017 for trafficking 960 grams of heroin.

Little was known about Tuesday’s execution as of publication time, as Singapore reveals little information about the hangings. Local anti-death penalty NGOs usually inquire about the deaths through other prisoners or inmates’ relatives, who in this case had yet to make any public statement.

These NGOs, including the Transformative Justice Collective, have said for months that because of the saturation on death row after two years without executions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore would expedite hangings in 2022.

Since Mar. 30, when a 68-year-old Singaporean was hanged for drug trafficking, there have been five other executions, including that of a prisoner with intellectual disabilities on Apr. 27 amid strong criticism from the international community and human rights organizations.

All prisoners executed this year have been convicted of drug trafficking and many are of Malaysian nationality or Singaporeans of Malay ethnicity, prompting some organizations to accuse authorities of racial discrimination.

The country applies the death penalty on anyone in possession of 15 grams of heroin and 500 grams of cannabis. EFE

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