Singapore executes fifth prisoner this year for drug trafficking

<p>Singapore executed a 39-year-old man who was convicted of trafficking heroin, the city-state’s fifth hanging this year and the third in just over a week, authorities said on Thursday.</p>, <p>His punishment was carried out on Thursday, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.</p>, <p>According to court documents, Mohamed Shalleh worked as a delivery driver before his arrest in 2016. During his trial, he claimed to have believed he was delivering contraband cigarettes for a friend to whom he owed money.</p>, <p>He became the 16th prisoner sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>, <p>The execution comes less than a week after Singapore executed the first woman in nearly 20 years for drug trafficking despite condemnation from rights groups.</p>, <p>Saridewi Binte, a 45-year-old Singaporean, was executed on Friday for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.</p>, <p>A local man, Mohd Aziz, 57, had been hanged two days earlier for trafficking about 50 grams of heroin.</p>, <p>The United Nations, last week, denounced the hangings and called for Singapore to impose a moratorium on the death penalty.</p>, <p>Despite growing international pressure on the issue, Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective deterrent against drug trafficking.</p>, <p>The wealthy financial centre has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.</p>, <p>AFP</p>