Singapore executes Malaysian drug trafficker despite appeals
- Abd Helmi Ab Halim was sentenced to death in 2017 for transporting heroin from Malaysia to the city state
- Singapore insisted it had the right to use capital punishment against drug offenders after Malaysian law minister urged it to reconsider the hanging
The city state, known for strict enforcement of laws and low crime rates, steadfastly maintains that capital punishment is an effective deterrent against crime despite appeals from rights groups to soften its stance.
The execution was “extremely disproportionate”, said N. Surendran of Lawyers for Liberty, a Malaysian human rights NGO, which had appealed for clemency for the trafficker.
“He was a low-level drug mule, the amount that he was alleged to have transported was paltry,” he said, adding it was just above the 15-gramme threshold for a mandatory death penalty for trafficking.
Earlier this week, Malaysian Law Minister Liew Vui Keong called for Singapore to reconsider the hanging, saying it was “heart-wrenching to see a fellow citizen (is) to be executed, for circumstances entirely uncompelling.”
“Justice must be tempered with mercy, and I implore Singapore to do so,” he had said.
Following the hanging, Singapore insisted it had the right to use capital punishment against drug offenders and expected other countries to respect its laws, the city state’s Straits Times newspaper reported.
“Singapore’s laws apply equally to all, regardless whether the offender is Singaporean or foreign,” the law and interior ministries said in a joint statement.
Amnesty International recorded 13 executions last year in Singapore, 11 of them for drug-related offences.