Singapore invokes 'fake news' law after executioner claims 'brutal' hanging tactics used in botched executions

The execution scene. Screenshot from "Apprentice" by Boo Junfeng (2016)

Human Rights Watch says Singapore is extremely secretive about how many executions it carries out

Singapore has used its controversial 'fake news' legislation to try to suppress claims that death row prisoners are sometimes kicked to death to ensure their necks snap during botched hangings.

A former executioner at Singapore's Changi Prison has alleged that he and other prison officers were secretly ordered to kick the back of the neck repeatedly if a prisoner did not die from the gallows.

The man — who remains anonymous — recently told a Malaysian human rights group that prison officers were given special training to carry out the execution method.

"He and other prison officers were instructed to carry out the brutal procedure whenever the rope breaks during a hanging, which happens from time to time," the group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said in a statement.

The group said if a hanging fails to kill a prisoner on death row, officers are quietly instructed to work in pairs to break the person's neck.

"The officers are told not to kick more than two times, so that there will be no tell-tale marks in case there is an autopsy," Lawyers for Liberty said.

The statement also claims that the Singapore Government approved of these "unlawful" methods in "flagrant breach" of the country's constitution.

The Singaporean Government has rejected the allegations as "preposterous" and denied that it has ever used such a method to kill a death row prisoner.

"For the record, the rope used for judicial executions has never broken before. This fact alone shows the falsity of LFL's allegations," the government said.

"These scurrilous allegations of misconduct follow a series of sensational and untrue stories previously published by LFL."

Singapore demands group brand its allegations 'fake news'

The government has also invoked its 'fake news' law to demand the human rights group and others attach 'fake news' labels to their webpages or Facebook posts.

Singapore last year promoted its Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act as a means to protect free speech and national security.

But opposition groups and rights activists have warned it will instead be used to silence criticism of the government.

"This is all about Singapore's effort to censor news that they don't like," said Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch.

Lawyers for Liberty is standing by its statement and will refuse to attach a fake news label to its website.

"Our statement is based upon evidence from former and current Singapore prison officers. These are officers with impeccable service records," the organisation said.

"This attempt by Singapore to extend their jurisdiction to Malaysian citizens … is provocative, illegal and in breach of international law."

Malaysians are believed to make up the majority of death row prisoners in Singapore, most of them convicted for drug trafficking.

Human Rights Watch says it is difficult to know who or how many prisoners in Singapore face the death penalty.

"Singapore is probably the least transparent country we deal with when it comes to the death penalty," Phil Robertson said.

"There is no listing of the number of people who are put to death, and who they were. There's nothing."

Human Rights Watch has asked for local observers to be given access to prisons to witnesses execution procedures.

"Singapore is doing none of it. So their denials have to come with a grain of salt," Mr Robertson said.

Lawyers for Liberty has called for a moratorium on all executions in Singapore pending investigations into the allegations.

It has also demanded that Singapore reveal the number and identities of Malaysian prisoners who have been executed using kicking — instead of the proper gallows — in Changi.

In the wake of those statements, authorities in Singapore have ordered that the Lawyers for Liberty website be blocked.

Source: abc.net.au, Anne Barker, January 25, 2020

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement. “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

China | Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Bai is the second senior figure from Huarong to be put to death for corruption following the execution of Lai Xiaomin in 2021 China has executed a former senior banker who was found guilty of taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$155 million) in bribes. Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of the asset management firm China Huarong International Holdings, was executed on Tuesday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the sentence, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Iran | Child Bride Saved from the Gallows After Blood Money Raised Through Donations, Charities

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 9, 2025: Goli Kouhkan, a 25-year-old undocumented Baluch child bride who was scheduled to be executed within weeks, has been saved from the gallows after the diya (blood money) was raised in time. According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency , the plaintiffs in the case of Goli Kouhkan, have agreed to forgo their right to execution as retribution. In a video, the victim’s parents are seen signing the relevant documents. Goli’s lawyer, Parand Gharahdaghi, confirmed in a social media post that the original 10 billion (approx. 100,000 euros) toman diya was reduced to 8 billion tomans (approx. 80,000 euros) and had been raised through donations and charities.

Who Gets Hanged in Singapore?

Singapore’s death penalty has been in the news again. Enshrined in law in 1975, a decade after the island split from Malaysia and became an independent state, the penalty can see people sentenced to hang for drug trafficking, murder or firearms offenses, among other crimes. Executions have often involved trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with offenses measured in grams. Those executed have included people from low-income backgrounds and foreign nationals who are sometimes not fluent in English, according to human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

USA | Should Medical Research Regulations and Informed Consent Principles Apply to States’ Use of Experimental Execution Methods?

New drugs and medical treatments undergo rigorous testing to ensure they are safe and effective for public use. Under federal and state regulations, this testing typically involves clinical trials with human subjects, who face significant health and safety risks as the first people exposed to experimental treatments. That is why the law requires them to be fully informed of the potential effects and give their voluntary consent to participate in trials. Yet these regulations have not been followed when states seek to use novel and untested execution methods — subjecting prisoners to potentially torturous and unconstitutionally painful deaths. Some experts and advocates argue that states must be bound by the ethical and human rights principles of biomedical research before using these methods on prisoners.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog