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August 1, 2019

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Singapore drug hangings up

Source: Agencies | 00:05 UTC+8 August 1, 2019 | Print Edition

Drug trafficking into Singapore, which has some of the world鈥檚 toughest drug laws, has risen recently, the law minister said yesterday. And he defended capital punishment for serious drug crimes as reflecting public support.

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty warned of an 鈥渆xecution binge鈥 after it said a number of prisoners on death row in Singapore had their requests for presidential pardons rejected this month.

鈥淲e have seen an increase in the number of people coming in from countries trying to traffic,鈥 Singapore鈥檚 Minister of Law K. Shanmugam said.

He did not elaborate on what type of illegal drugs were being smuggled in.

The wealthy city-state has a zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs and imposes long jail terms on convicted users. It has hanged hundreds of people 鈥 including dozens of foreigners 鈥 for narcotics offenses over past decades, rights groups say.

Malaysian-based law reform and rights group Lawyers for Liberty said this month that up to 10 prisoners in Singapore had their clemency petitions rejected in July.

鈥淚t indicates that Singapore is preparing for an execution binge, in total disregard of international legal norms and decent world opinion,鈥 the group said.

Singapore does not publicly disclose details of clemency petitions and decisions.

Singapore, which has warned against a global trend to ease drug laws, reported 13 executions in 2018, 11 for drug offences. Amnesty International said it was the first year since 2003 that the number hangings reached double-digits. Globally, Amnesty recorded the lowest number of executions in the past decade in 2018.

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