FEATURED POST

Unveiling Singapore’s Death Penalty Discourse: A Critical Analysis of Public Opinion and Deterrent Claims

Image
While Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintains a firm stance on the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking in Singapore, the article presents evidence suggesting that the methodologies and interpretations of these studies might not be as substantial as portrayed.

Singapore: 2 convicted drug traffickers escape gallows, imprisoned for life

Changi prison, where executions are carried out in Singapore.
Changi prison, where executions are carried out in Singapore.
April 20, 2015: Two convicted drug traffickers were spared the gallows today, four years after being sentenced to death.

Cheong Chun Yin, 31, and Pang Siew Fum, 60, both Malaysians, were sentenced to life imprisonment for trafficking 2.7 kg of heroin to Singapore on June 16, 2008. They were convicted in 2010.

Cheong was also given 15 strokes of the cane — the minimum prescribed by the Misuse of Drugs Act.

High Court judge Choo Han Teck said he was satisfied that Cheong’s involvement in the act was that of a courier. Justice Choo also noted that the prosecution had tendered documents certifying Cheong had “substantively assisted” the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting drug trafficking activities outside Singapore.

The Misuse of Drugs Act was amended together with the Penal Code in 2012 to remove the mandatory death penalty for certain types of homicide and drug trafficking offences, in a move to “temper justice with mercy”.

Apart from meeting the condition of having only played the role of a courier, a drug trafficker must either have cooperated with the Central Narcotics Bureau in a substantive way or have a mental disability that substantially impairs his appreciation of the gravity of the act.

In Pang’s case, Justice Choo was persuaded that she was suffering from mental abnormalities during the time of the offence. 

Sources: todayonline.com, April 20, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

California | San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row

Missouri Supreme Court declines to halt execution of man who killed couple in 2006

Oklahoma | Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith denied stay of execution

Indonesia | Bali Prosecutors Seeking Death on Appeal

China | Former gaming executive sentenced to death in poisoning of billionaire Netflix producer

Ohio dad could still face death penalty in massacre of 3 sons after judge tosses confession

Iran | Couple hanged in the Central Prison of Tabriz