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Singapore’s hanging spate to continue as minister K. Shanmugam vows no let-up in tough laws to fight illegal drug use
- Convicted drug trafficker Nazeri Lajim was hanged on Friday, the fifth execution in the city state since March
- The Singapore government has stoutly defended its use of the death penalty, claiming the policy has broad public support
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Singapore executed a 64-year-old man convicted of drug trafficking on Friday, with activists fearing no early end to the ongoing spate of hangings following a pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singaporean Nazeri Lajim, the fifth person to be executed since March, was hanged in prison, the prisons service said in a statement. There are currently an estimated 60 people on Singapore’s death row.
In a radio interview on Wednesday, Singapore’s influential law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam acknowledged that enforcement of the country’s strict stance on drugs was getting more challenging as its neighbours mull easing their respective rules.
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In Indonesia and Malaysia, for instance, discussions are under way for the legalisation of medical marijuana, taking the lead of Thailand which did so last month.
“It really is incumbent upon us to present the choices in very vivid terms and persuade our people, including young people, that we have to make the right choices for them and for society,” said Shanmugam. The minister has in recent months stepped up media engagement on the matter and appeared on BBC’s Hardtalk in late June.
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