Capital punishment in Singapore

Capital punishment is legal in Singapore. The city-state had the second highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1998, estimated by the United Nations to be 13.83 executions annually per one million people during that period.[1] The highest was Turkmenistan (now an abolitionist country) with 14.92. However, since the early 2010s, execution has become far less common, with some years having no executions at all. None were executed in 2012 and 2013, and two persons were executed in 2014. Each execution in Singapore is carried out by long drop hanging in Changi Prison at dawn on Friday. In a survey done two years ago, reported in The Straits Times, 95% of Singaporeans believe that their country should retain the death penalty.

Singapore has had capital punishment since it was a British colony and became independent before the United Kingdom abolished capital punishment. The Singaporean procedure of hanging condemned individuals is heavily influenced by the methods formerly used in the United Kingdom.

In 2012, however, Singapore amended its laws to exempt some cases from the mandatory death sentence while boosting enforcement. Although the penalty will stay, discretionary measures are now given to judges.[2]

Statistics

The following table of executions was compiled by Amnesty International from several sources, including statistics supplied by the Ministry of Home Affairs in January 2001 and government figures reported to Agence France-Presse in September 2003.[3] Numbers in brackets are the number of foreign citizens executed, according to information disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Year Murder Drug-related Firearms Total
1991197026
1992137121
1993102012
19942154176
19952052173
199610 {7}40 {10}050
1997{3}11 {2}515
19984 {1}24 {5}028
19998 {2}35 {7}043
20004 {2}17 {5}021
2000?23??
2001?22??
2002????
2003???10
2004???8{2}[4]
2005???8{1}[4]
2006???8{2}[4]
20071 2 0 3{2}[4]
20084 2 0 6{3}[5]
20091 3 1 5{2}[5]
20100 0 0 0[5]
20112? 2 0? 4[6]
20120 0 0 0[7]
20130 0 0 0[7]
20140 2 0 2[7]
2015 [7]

Detailed statistics are not released by the Singapore government from 2000 to 2006. Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told the BBC in September 2003 that he believed there were "in the region of about 70 to 80" hangings in 2003. Two days later he retracted his statement, saying the number was in fact ten.[8]

The chief executioner, Darshan Singh, said that he has executed more than 850 people during his service from 1959 using the phrase: "I am going to send you to a better place than this. God bless you." This included 18 people on one day, using three ropes at a time. Singh also said that he has hanged seven people within 90 minutes.[9]

Foreign nationals

The people on death row include foreign nationals, many of whom were convicted of drug-related offences. These inmates come from a diverse range of countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Figures released by the Singapore government show that between 1993 to 2003, 36% of those executed were foreigners, including some residents in Singapore (half of Singapore residents are foreigners).[10]

Legislation

Under Section 316 of the Criminal Procedure Code:[11]

"When any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he shall be hanged by the neck till he is dead but shall not state the place where nor the time when the sentence is to be carried out."

Hangings always take place at dawn on Friday and are by the long drop method developed in the United Kingdom by William Marwood. The executioner refers to the Official Table of Drops. The government have said that they:

"…had previously studied the different methods of execution and found no reason to change from the current method used, that is, by hanging."[12]

Neither persons under the age of 18 at the time of their offence nor pregnant women can be sentenced to death.

Capital cases are heard by a single judge in the High Court. After conviction and sentencing, the sentenced has one appeal to the Court of Appeal. If the appeal fails, the final recourse rests with the President, who has the power to grant clemency on the advice of the Cabinet. The exact number of successful appeals is unknown. Poh Kay Keong had his conviction overturned after the court found his statement to a Central Narcotics Bureau officer was made under duress.[3] Successful clemency applications are thought to be even rarer. Since 1965, the President's clemency has been granted six times.[13] The last clemency was in May 1998 when Mathavakannan Kalimuthu received pardon from President Ong Teng Cheong with the sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

In November 2012, capital punishment laws in Singapore were revised such that the mandatory death penalty for those convicted of drug trafficking or murder was lifted under certain specific conditions. Judges were empowered with the discretion to sentence such offenders to life imprisonment, which suggests the prisoner lives his entire natural life in jail with the possibility of parole after 20 years.[14]

The condemned are given notice at least four days before execution. In the case of foreigners who have been sentenced to death, their families and diplomatic missions/embassies are given one to two weeks' notice.[10]

Amnesty International reports that death row inmates are housed in cells of roughly three square metres (32 square feet).[3] Walls make up three sides, while the fourth is vertical bars. They are equipped with a toilet, a sleeping mat, and a bucket for washing. Exercise is permitted twice a day for half an hour at a time.[10] Four days before the execution, the condemned is allowed to watch television or listen to the radio.[3] Special meals of their choice are also cooked, if within the prison budget. Visiting rights are increased from one 20 minute visit per week to a maximum of four hours each day,[10] though no physical contact is allowed with any visitors.[3]

Capital offences

In addition to the Penal Code, there are four Acts of Parliament that prescribe death as punishment for offences. According to a Singaporean civil rights group, the Think Centre, 70% of hangings are for drug-related offences.[15]

Penal Code

Under the Penal Code,[16] the commission of the following offences may result in the death penalty:

Since the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2007,[17] Singapore no longer allows for the death penalty for several offences. Offences which may no longer lead to the death penalty are:

Arms Offences Act

Under the Arms Offences Act,[18] the commission of the following offences will result in the death penalty upon conviction:

Under the same Act, the commission of the follow offence may result in the death penalty:

Misuse of Drugs Act

The Singapore embarkation card contains a warning to visitors about the death penalty for drug trafficking. Warning signs can also be found at the Johor-Singapore Causeway and other border entries.

Under Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act,[19][20] any person importing, exporting, or found in possession of more than the following quantities of drugs receives a mandatory death sentence:

Death sentences are also mandatory for any person caught manufacturing :

Under the Act:

"any person who is proved to have had in his possession or custody or under his control —
(a) anything containing a controlled drug;
(b) the keys of anything containing a controlled drug;
(c) the keys of any place or premises or any part thereof in which a controlled drug is found; or
(d) a document of title relating to a controlled drug or any other document intended for the delivery of a controlled drug,
shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have had that drug in his possession."

Furthermore, any person who has a controlled drug in his possession shall be presumed to have known the nature of that drug.

Death penalty supporters, such as the blogger Benjamin Chang, claim that Singapore has one of the lowest prevalence of drug abuse worldwide: he claims, for instance, that over two decades, the number of drug abusers arrested each year has declined by two-thirds, from over 6,000 in the early 1990s to about 2,000 in 2011.[21] The validity of these figures is disputed by other Singaporeans, such as the Singaporean drugs counsellor Tony Tan.[22] The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime notes that Singapore remains a transit destination for drug traffickers in Asia, drug seizures continue to increase and heroin drug use within Singapore is continuing to rise.[23]

Internal Security Act

The preamble of the Internal Security Act states that it is an Act to "provide for the internal security of Singapore, preventive detention, the prevention of subversion, the suppression of organised violence against persons and property in specified areas of Singapore, and for matters incidental thereto."[24] The President of Singapore has the power to designate certain security areas. Any person caught in the possession or with someone in possession of firearms, ammunition or explosives in a security area can be punished by death.

Arms Offences Act

The Arms Offences Act regulates firearms offences.[25] Any person who uses or attempts to use arms (Section 4) can face execution, as well as any person who uses or attempts to use arms to commit scheduled offences (Section 4A). These scheduled offences are being a member of an unlawful assembly; rioting; certain offences against the person; abduction or kidnapping; extortion; burglary; robbery; preventing or resisting arrest; vandalism; mischief. Any person who is an accomplice (Section 5) to a person convicted of arms use during a scheduled offence can likewise be executed.

Trafficking in arms (Section 6) is a capital offence in Singapore. Under the Arms Offences Act, trafficking is defined as being in unlawful possession of more than two firearms.

Kidnapping Act

The terms of the Kidnapping Act designate abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement for ransom as capital offences.[26]

Public debate

Public debate in the Singaporean news media on the death penalty is almost non-existent, although the topic does occasionally get discussed in the midst of major, well-known criminal cases. Efforts to garner public opinion on the issue are rare, although it has been suggested that the population is influenced by a traditional Chinese view which held that harsh punishment deters crime and helps maintain social peace and harmony.[27] In October 2007, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said in Parliament that "Certain of us may hold the view that the death penalty should be abolished. But in a survey done two years ago, reported in The Straits Times, 95% of Singaporeans feel that the death penalty should stay. This is something which has helped us to be safe and secure all these years and it is only reserved for a very few select offences."[28]

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, a former opposition Member of Parliament, was reportedly only given a few minutes to speak in Parliament on the issue before his comments were rebutted by Ho Peng Kee.[3][29]

Few other opposition Members of Parliament would bring up the issue, which may be reflective of a population generally indifferent to the matter.

Shanmugam Murugesu

Before the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu, a three-hour vigil was held on 6 May 2005. The organisers of the event at the Furama Hotel said it was the first such public gathering organised solely by members of the public against the death penalty in Singapore. Murugesu had been arrested after being caught in possession of six packets containing just over 1 kilograms of cannabis after returning from Malaysia. He admitted knowledge of one of the packets, which contained 300 grams, but not the other five.[30][31] The event went unreported on the partially state-owned media and the police shut down an open microphone session just as the first person began to speak.[30][32]

After the hanging of Van Tuong Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Australian from Melbourne, on 2 December 2005, Sister Susan Chia, province leader of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Singapore, declared that "The death penalty is cruel, inhumane and it violates the right to life." Chia and several other nuns comforted Nguyen's mother two weeks before his execution for heroin trafficking.[33]

Singapore's death penalty laws have drawn comments in the media. For example, science fiction author William Gibson, while a journalist, wrote a travel piece on Singapore that he sarcastically titled Disneyland with the Death Penalty.[34]

In 2010 British author Alan Shadrake published his book Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, which was critical of the Singapore judicial system.[35] Shadrake was arrested whilst promoting the book in Singapore and later sentenced to six weeks in prison for contempt of court. He is also charged with criminal defamation. The case attracted worldwide attention, putting the Singapore legal system in the spotlight.[36][37] Shadrake apologised to the court if he had offended the sensitivities of the judiciary and did not mean to undermine the judges or the judiciary, but stood by his book, apart from one small mistake.[38]

My so-called apology was to merely point out that my book was sub-titled Singapore Justice in the Dock - NOT Singapore Judiciary in the Dock. I did not 'apologise' at all and welcomed the prison sentence which drew even more attention to the real issues. The many cases I exposed where various judges sentenced some accused to death despite dubious, suspect evidence concocted by the police and their informers while others with powerful countries behind them had their charges inexplicably reduced to a non-hanging offence. But Judge Loh completely ignored the evidence I produced in Once a Jolly Hangman even though he claimed to have read it from cover to cover. This proved again that the judiciary is not independent from the executive - a fact which the International Bar Association ably pointed out in its 2008 report on Singapore - and that the judiciary has to do the government's bidding when it suits them.

The judge, Quentin Loh, dismissed his apology as "nothing more than a tactical ploy in court to obtain a reduced sentence".[39] Shadrake's conviction for scandalising the court was upheld by the Court of Appeal.[40]

Law Society review

In December 2005, the Law Society revealed that it has set up a committee, named Review Committee on Capital Punishment, to examine capital punishment in the country. The President of the Society, Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, said that the main focus of the review was on issues regarding administering the death penalty such as whether it should be mandatory. A report of the review would be submitted to the Ministry of Law.[41] On 6 November 2006, they were invited to give its views on proposed amendments to the Penal Code to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In their report, issued on 30 March 2007, they argued against the mandatory death penalty:

The death penalty should be discretionary for the offences where the death sentence is mandatory - murder, drug trafficking, firearms offences and sedition - a position similar to that for the offence of kidnapping. There are strong arguments for changing the mandatory nature of capital punishment in Singapore. Judges should be given the discretion to impose the death penalty only where deemed appropriate.[42]

Singapore government's response

The Singapore government states that the death penalty is only used in the most serious of crimes, sending, they say, a strong message to potential offenders. They point out that in 1994 and 1999 the United Nations General Assembly failed to adopt resolutions calling for a moratorium on the death penalty worldwide, as a majority of countries opposed such a move.

Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations wrote a letter to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in 2001 which stated:

"…the death penalty is primarily a criminal justice issue, and therefore is a question for the sovereign jurisdiction of each country […] the right to life is not the only right, and […] it is the duty of societies and governments to decide how to balance competing rights against each other."[3]

In January 2004, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a response to Amnesty International's report, "Singapore: The death penalty - A hidden toll of executions". It defended Singapore's policy to retain the death penalty, predicating its arguments on, amongst others, the following grounds:[10]

The Ministry of Home Affairs also refuted Amnesty International's claims of the majority of the executed being foreigners, and that it was "mostly the poor, least educated, and vulnerable people who are executed." The Ministry stated: "Singaporeans, and not foreigners, were the majority of those executed... Of those executed from 1993 to 2003, 95% were above 21 years of age, and 80% had received formal education. About 80% of those who had been sentenced to capital punishment had employment before their convictions".[10]

Following the hanging of Van Tuong Nguyen in 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reiterated the government's position, stating that "The evil inflicted on thousands of people with drug trafficking demands that we must tackle the source by punishing the traffickers rather than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards... It's a law which is approved of by Singapore's inhabitants and which allows us to reduce the drug problem."[43]

Prior to the United Nations General Assembly's voting on a moratorium on the death penalty in November 2007, Singapore's ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon said, "My delegation would like to remind this committee that capital punishment is not prohibited under international law. Yet it is clear that the sponsors of this draft resolution have decided that there can only be one view on capital punishment, and that only one set of choices should be respected... [the death penalty] is an important component of the administration of law and our justice system, and is imposed only for the most serious crimes and serves as a deterrent. We have proper legal safeguards in place to prevent any miscarriage of justice."[44]

Impact on official debate and discussion in the United States

In 2012, a couple of American elected officials and office-seekers have suggested that Singapore's success in combating drug abuse should be examined as a model for the United States. Michael Bloomberg, a former Mayor of New York City, said that the United States could learn a thing or two from nations like Singapore when it came to drug trafficking, noting that "executing a handful of people saves thousands and thousands of lives."[45] The last execution in New York took place in 1963. Several courts have ruled that the death penalty violates the New York Constitution (see People v. LaValle). In 2008, the state of New York abolished the death penalty, bringing the number of American states without the death penalty to 19, including Washington, D.C.. However, certain states, such as Texas, still have similar or even higher rates of execution than Singapore.

Even when an American politician mentions capital punishment in Singapore, the application of the death penalty in the United States is limited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution to only aggravated murders committed by mentally competent adults. For example, former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich repeated his longstanding advocacy for Singaporean methods in the United States's War on Drugs during campaign interviews and speeches.[46][47]) Nevertheless, the use of the death penalty for drug offences in the United States constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment", which is why it is considered unconstitutional.

Moreover, American public opinion now largely considers the War on Drugs to be a failure: 51.6% of American adults have used cannabis at least once in their life,[48] 53% of Americans think marijuana should be legal,[49] and consequently an increasing number of American states and cities have either decriminalised cannabis or legalised it for medical and/or recreational use (see Legality of cannabis by U.S. jurisdiction).

Notable cases

See also

References

  1. ↑ para 68 UNODC.org (page 18)
  2. ↑ Chen, Sharon (2012-11-14). "Singapore Amends Death Penalty Law to Exempt Some Offences". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Singapore: The death penalty - A hidden toll of executions" (PDF). Amnesty International. 2004-01-14. Retrieved 2007-12-29. Amnesty International recognizes the need to combat drug trafficking, and the harm that illicit drugs can cause. However there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty deters would-be traffickers more effectively than other punishments; Amnesty International is gravely concerned that such presumptions erode the right to a fair trial, increasing the risk that an innocent person may be executed, particularly as the law provides for a mandatory death sentence; Amnesty International opposes the death penalty worldwide in all cases without exception; Relatives have informed Amnesty International that prisoners under sentence of death are kept in strict isolation in individual cells measuring approximately three square meters. The cells are thought to have walls on three sides, with bars on the remaining side. Cells are sparse, furnished only with a toilet and a mat for sleeping, but no bedding. Inmates are allowed the use of a bucket for washing; They may receive one 20-minute visit per week in a special area where they are separated from visitors by a thick pane of glass and have to communicate via a telephone. About four days before the execution date, as a special concession, prisoners are permitted to watch television or listen to the radio and are given meals of their choice, within the prison’s budget. They are also allowed extra visits from relatives but no physical contact is permitted at any time before the execution; In July 2001 then parliamentarian and prominent human rights campaigner, J.B. Jeyaretnam, called for a parliamentary debate about the case of a drug user who was facing execution, urging the Cabinet to consider various aspects of the case during examination of his clemency appeal. J.B. Jeyaretnam was given just a few minutes to speak before his arguments were rebutted by the Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Written Answer to Parliamentary Question on Judicial Executions From 2004 to 2010, 21 October 2011, MHA
  5. 1 2 3 Prisons Annual Report 2011 Part 4
  6. ↑ "Singapore court rejects death-row Malaysian's appeal". According to official figures, there were four executions in 2011, two of them for drug-related offences
  7. 1 2 3 4 Massive leap backwards as Singapore resumes executions
  8. ↑ "More people executed in Singapore". The Age (Melbourne). AFP. 25 September 2003. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  9. ↑ Shadrake, Alan (28 October 2005). "Nguyen executioner revealed". The Australian (Surry Hills, NSW, 2010, Australia: News Limited). Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2007-12-30. Mr Singh joined the British colonial prison service in the mid-1950s after arriving from Malaysia. When the long-established British hangman Mr Seymour retired, Singh, then 27, volunteered for the job. He was attracted by the bonus payment for executions. Mr Singh is credited with being the only executioner in the world to single-handedly hang 18 men in one day -- three at a time. They had been convicted of murdering four prison officers during a riot on the penal island of Pulau Senang in 1963. He also hanged seven condemned men within 90 minutes a few years later. They had been convicted in what became known as the "gold bars murders", in which a merchant and two employees were killed during a robbery. One of the most controversial executions in his career was the 1991 hanging of a young Filipina maid, Flor Contemplacion, who was convicted of the murder of a co-worker, Delia Maga, and her four-year-old son, on what many believed was shaky evidence. He carries out the executions wearing simple casual clothes, often just a T-shirt, shorts, sports shoes and knee-length socks. To mark his 500th hanging four years ago, four of his former colleagues turned up at his home to celebrate the event with a couple of bottles of Dom Perignon. Mr Singh boasts that he has never botched an execution. "Mr Seymour taught him just how long the drop should be according to weight and height and exactly where the knot should be placed at the back of the neck," his colleague said. "Death has always come instantaneously and painlessly. In that split second, at precisely 6am, it's all over."
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Singapore Government's Response To Amnesty International's Report "Singapore - The Death Penalty: A Hidden Toll Of Executions"". Ministry of Home Affairs. 30 January 2004. Retrieved 2013-09-30. Contrary to AI's claims, Singaporeans, not foreigners, were the majority of those executed in Singapore. From 1993 to 2003, 64% of those executed were Singaporeans. In the last five years, 73% executed were Singaporeans. Given that one in four residents in Singapore is a foreigner, it is not only false but mischievous to allege that a significant proportion of prisoners executed were foreigners; Although family members are not with the inmate at the moment of execution, they are informed four days before the executions (for foreigners, the families and embassy will be informed earlier, usually seven to fourteen days) and allowed daily visits lasting up to four hours for each visit during these four days. The execution is carried out in the presence of a Prison medical doctor. Upon request, a priest or a religious minister is allowed to be present, to pray for the person to be executed; Our prison conditions are spartan but adequate. Visiting Justices, who are prominent members of the community, conduct regular unannounced visits to the prison institutions to make sure that prisoners, including those on death row, are not ill-treated. It is not true that prisoners are not allowed to exercise. All prisoners, including condemned prisoners, are entitled to their daily exercises. In fact, there are two exercise yards dedicated for this use. They are normally allowed to exercise twice a day, half an hour each time, one or two at a time.
  11. ↑ Cap. 68, 1985 Rev. Ed.
  12. ↑ "Singapore stands by hanging". 21 November 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  13. ↑ Rita Zahara (29 December 2006). "19 murders in first 11 months of 2006, one more than same period in 2005". Channel NewsAsia.
  14. ↑ Abu Baker, Jalelah (16 January 2015). "Murderer fails to escape the gallows: 6 other cases involving the revised death penalty laws". Straits Times. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Singapore Death Penalty Shrouded In Silence". Reuters. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  16. ↑ Cap. 224, 1985 Rev. Ed.
  17. ↑ "Singapore Statutes Online - Results". statutes.agc.gov.sg. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  18. ↑ "Singapore Statutes Online - Results". statutes.agc.gov.sg. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  19. ↑ Cap. 185, 2001 Rev. Ed.
  20. ↑ SECOND SCHEDULE - OFFENCES PUNISHABLE ON CONVICTION
  21. ↑ "Results on Poll: Would you support a total abolishment of the death sentence?". Five Stars And a Moon. 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  22. ↑ "Drug Addiction and Rehabilitation in Draconian Singapore". The Independent. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "Singapore". The Global SMART programme. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  24. ↑ Cap. 143, 1985 Rev. Ed.
  25. ↑ Cap. 14, 1998 Rev. Ed.
  26. ↑ Cap. 151, 1999 Rev. Ed.
  27. ↑ Baradan Kuppusamy (3 December 2007). "DEATH PENALTY-SINGAPORE: Stand at UN Leaves Many Angered". IPS.
  28. ↑ Ho, Peng Kee, Singapore Parliamentary Reports, 11th Parliament, Session 1, Volume 83, 23 October 2007.
  29. ↑ Tan Kong Soon (19 July 2001). "Death Penalty Case Gets an Airing in Parliament". Think Centre. Retrieved 2007-12-30. The Parliamentary session of July 11, 2001 saw a veteran politician broach the issue of clemency for a death row-bound, Malay male convicted of drugs trafficking; Within the span of allocated time, JBJ managed to raise only three points of the clemency plea before interrupted by the Speaker of the House; Rising to reply JBJ’s tirades was the Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee.
  30. 1 2 Aglionby, John (8 May 2005). "Singapore finally finds a voice in death row protest". World (London: The Observer). Retrieved 2007-12-30. Murugesu, 38, a former jet ski champion, military veteran and civil servant, was arrested in August 2003 after six packets containing a total of just over a kilo of cannabis were found in his bags when he returned home after a trip to Malaysia. He admitted to knowing about one of the packets, containing 300g, but nothing about the others; The government clearly does not want the campaign gathering momentum. The partially state-owned local media ignored the vigil and the police shut down the open mike session just as the first person was getting into his stride.
  31. ↑ "IR Legislation; Death Row in Singapore". The Law Report (Melbourne: ABC Radio National). 8 November 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-30. [...] he was caught for one one kilogram of cannabis which is what he was charged for, although he admitted only one packet.
  32. ↑ Martin Abbugao (AFP) (16 May 2005). "Singapore anti-death penalty fight lives on". World (Hong Kong: The Standard). Retrieved 2007-12-30. In an example of the extent authorities still monitor dissenters, an "open mike session" at the vigil in which the audience was invited to speak was abruptly ended just after the first speaker began to talk. Organizers said plainclothes police officers stepped in and asked them to scrap that portion of the program.The death row is about a couple weeks long, and only one appeal is permitted
  33. ↑ Butcher, Steve (4 December 2005). "End death penalty: Singapore nun". Melbourne: The Age.
  34. ↑ Gibson, William (September 1993). "Disneyland with the Death Penalty". Wired.
  35. ↑ England, Vaudine (20 July 2010). "British death penalty author freed on bail in Singapore". BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  36. ↑ "British author of death penalty book held in Singapore". BBC News. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  37. ↑ British author jailed for contempt by Singapore court, The Guardian, 16 November 2010
  38. ↑ "British author Alan Shadrake jailed in Singapore". Telegraph (London). 16 Nov 2010. Retrieved 16 Nov 2010.
  39. ↑ Guardian, as above
  40. ↑ Shadrake v. Attorney-General [2011] SGCA 26, [2011] 3 S.L.R. 778, Court of Appeal (Singapore)
  41. ↑ Ansley Ng (2006-01-13). "Singapore's Law Society to give death penalty a fair airing". Today (Singapore newspaper).
  42. ↑ Extract of the Council’s Report on the proposed Penal Code Amendments submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, March 30, 2007, lawsociety.org
  43. ↑ "Drug trafficking 'deserves death penalty': Singapore PM". ABC News Online. 29 November 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  44. ↑ Deen, Thalif (1 November 2007). "Death Penalty Threatens to Split World Body". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  45. ↑ Michael Bloomberg, DNA - Manhattan News March 26, 2012
  46. ↑ Newt Gingrich on Singapore's Drug laws (2012 interview)
  47. ↑ Newt Gingrich on U.S. drug policy and drug laws
  48. ↑ http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/online/annual-report/2011/cannabis/3
  49. ↑ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/14/6-facts-about-marijuana/
  50. ↑ "Document - Singapore: Further information on death penalty: Tong Ching-man (f), 24, unemployed waitress; Lam Cheuk-wang, 25, car park attendant; and new name: Poon Yuen-chung, (f), 22, sales assistant | Amnesty International". Secure.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  51. ↑ Tan Ee Lyn (1995-01-07). "mother hanged as drug-runner - World - News". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  52. ↑ "Singapore: Further information on death penalty: Angel Mou Puipeng | Amnesty International". Amnesty.org. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  53. ↑ John Aglionby in Singapore (7 May 2005). "Singapore finally finds a voice in death row protest | World news | The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
  54. ↑ Rita Zahara (19 May 2006). "Kallang body parts murderer gets death sentence". Channel NewsAsia.
  55. ↑ "Property agents obliged to reveal history of flat?". 2 October 2008.
  56. ↑ Valarie Tan (2007-01-24). ""One-Eyed Dragon" asked to be hanged to stop death threats on family". Channel NewsAsia.
  57. ↑ "One-eye Dragon hanged". Straits Times. 2009-01-09.

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