Singapore Hangs Man for Drug-Related Offences

Just days after the city's first female execution in over two decades, police have begun enforcing penalties for heroin smuggling.

Authorities in Singapore said they hanged a 39-year-old man for heroin trafficking, making it the third execution in the city-state in less than a week.

When he was caught in 2019 with 55 grams of heroin "for the aim of trafficking," Mohamed Shalleh Adul Latiff faced the death penalty. According to a statement released by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), he served his sentence on Thursday.

He was the sixteenth inmate executed since March 2022, when the government restarted the practice after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Despite criticism from human rights organizations, Singapore recently executed the first female drug smuggler in the last two decades, making it the fifth hanging of the year.

The United Nations has condemned the executions and urged Singapore to halt the practice of capital punishment. On the other hand, Singapore continues to defend the death sentence as an effective deterrence versus illicit drug trade despite mounting international lobbying.

The prosperous financial centre has some of the most stringent anti-drug regulations in the world, as anyone, local or tourist, trafficking heroin or cannabis can face the death sentence.

 

Source: theguardian.com