Singapore has severe anti-drug laws. However, the country had temporarily halted execution following the pandemic. A drug trafficker on death row was executed on Wednesday as Singapore resumes severe punishments.
Singapore hangs drug trafficker
Executions were on halt in Singapore since November 2019. A man on death row for his crimes of trafficking drugs was executed on Wednesday in the first execution since the wake of COVID-19. Early in the morning, Abdul Kahar Othman, a 68-year-old was hung according to Kristen Han, an anti-death penalty activist. The death penalty took place despite pleas from activists advocating for human rights. Additionally, the UN Human Rights Office also petitioned for changing Kahar’s sentence to life imprisonment. Several people joined Han to hold a small vigil outside the prison on Tuesday.
Kahar, coming from a poor family was struggling with drug addiction since his teenage years. “He spent more time behind bars than as a free man,” stated Han. Following his release from prison in 2005, convicted of drug trafficking in 2013. The drug trafficker’s conviction came two years later without proper rehabilitation. Han, the UN, and other Human Rights groups have been expressing their concerns about the accelerated rate of executions in the city-state.
A mentally disabled man next in line for death row
According to Transformative Justice Collective, families of prisoners on death row received an execution notice. However, their cases were postponed from legal appeals. Transformative Justice Collective is a group that is working to reform the city-state’s criminal justice system.
Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a Malaysian man suffering from a mental disability may be the next in line for execution following Kahar. He lost his final appeal on Tuesday. Dharmalingam is on death row for 12 years for smuggling 43 grams of drugs into Singapore. A previous court hearing saw that his IQ was 69. The level falls under ‘intellectual disability. However, the court is ruling this with a statement that he knew what he was doing. Human Rights groups have been urging President Halima Yacob to pardon or reduce his sentence. Additionally, EU representatives, the Malaysian leader, and several global representatives are calling on Singapore’s government to spare his life.