By Christian George
Singapore has executed another drug trafficker on Wednesday, making it the second citizen hanged within three weeks.
According to UCANews, the man was convicted in 2019 of trafficking around 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, Kokila Annamalai of local rights group, Transformative Justice Collective said.
The nation is strongly against drug trafficking and an attempt to smuggle more than 500 grams of cannabis can result in the death penalty.
A spokesman for the city-state’s prison service said, ” a 36-year-old Singaporean man had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex.”
Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau said in a separate statement that it would not release the name of the man to respect his family’s wish for privacy.
“The person was accorded full due process under the law, and had access to legal counsel throughout the process,” CNB added.
However, there has been growing international calls to abolish the death penalty, Singapore insists that it is an effective deterrent against trafficking.
The Wednesday execution was the second in Singapore this year after Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged on April 26 for conspiracy to smuggle a kilo of cannabis.
Record has it that inmates have been hanged since Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years.
Meanwhile International bodies have called for the abolishment of death penalty in the country for drug trafficking.
The execution of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam last year arouse more International interest as the drug trafficker was said to have mental disability.
