Execution for drug trafficking
Singapore carries out third death sentence in a week
8/3/2023 9:31 am
Singapore is one of the countries with the strictest drug laws in the world. A 39-year-old man is now being executed for possession of 55 grams of heroin for commercial purposes. The United Nations is calling on the island nation to suspend the death penalty.
Singapore has executed a prisoner for the third time in a week. Mohamed Shalleh Adul Latiff, 39, was sentenced to death for possessing 55 grams of heroin “for the purpose of trafficking,” the Central Drugs Agency said. The number of people executed in the Asian island state since the beginning of the year has increased to five. It was the 16th execution in the country since the government resumed carrying out death sentences in March 2022 after a two-year hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to court documents, Shalleh worked as a delivery driver before his arrest in 2016. During his trial, he stated he believed he was delivering contraband cigarettes for a friend to whom he owed money. A 45-year-old suspected drug smuggler was executed in the city-state last week. The 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani was sentenced to death in 2018 for drug trafficking with 30 grams of heroin. It was the first execution of a woman in the city-state in almost 20 years.
Two days earlier, a 57-year-old man had been sentenced to death for similar allegations. Mohd Aziz bin Hussain was sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” of heroin. The executions had sparked international protests, including from the United Nations. They called on Singapore to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
Singapore is one of the countries with the strictest drug laws in the world. Trafficking in more than 500 grams of cannabis or more than 15 grams of heroin is punishable by the death penalty. Despite international calls for its abolition, the city-state sees the death penalty as an effective deterrent to drug trafficking. Singapore argues that the death penalty has helped make the country one of the safest countries in Asia.