New hangings take Singapore execution toll to 10 in 4 months
- The city state has some of the world’s toughest anti-narcotics laws and insists the death penalty remains an effective deterrent against trafficking
- UN says the death penalty has not proven to be an effective deterrent globally and is incompatible with international human rights law
Singapore hanged two drug traffickers on Friday, authorities said, bringing the number of prisoners executed in the last four months to 10, despite international calls for the city state to abolish capital punishment.
The spate of hangings included the widely criticised execution of a man with limited cognitive function in April, and came after Singapore resumed executions in March after a hiatus of more than two years.
The prisons department said in a statement that Singaporeans Abdul Rahim Shapiee, 45, and Ong Seow Ping, 49, have been executed.
Shapiee, a former driver for a ride-hailing service, was convicted of trafficking 39.87 grams of pure heroin, Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said. It said an appeal court dismissed his last-gasp petition for a stay of the sentence.
Ong was Shapiee’s co-accused in the same case. He was convicted of trafficking 51.69 grams of heroin, the CNB said. Both were “accorded full due process under the law, and were represented by legal counsel throughout the legal proceedings”, the CNB said.
Friday’s hangings brought to 10 the number of prisoners executed since March 30, when a Singaporean man was sent to the gallows.