170 Global News Post 1

‘Stop the Killing’ campaign seeks to abolish the death penalty in Singapore

_{Transformative Justice Collective. (2022). [Activists call for the abolition of death penalty in Singapore]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/TJCSingapore/posts/pfbid023Xyj4t7zuAVgG9gtm7S8KfDjawCgJJMVBapK8bfZtr3EdfWQhTqppDBxbuqd7t3fl.}

When Nagaenthran Dharmalingham was executed in Singapore for smuggling drugs from Malaysia into the country, a wave of protests and anti-death penalty campaigns ensued. His hanging sparked a generation of young and globally conscious Singaporeans to speak up about how brutal and unforgiving the country’s punishment system is. Given that Singapore is typically politically passive and that the media is heavily censored, these protests are an unusual occurrence. But Singapore is one of the few countries in the world that has mandatory death sentences for drug crimes, so many Singaporeans feel that the death penalty has no place in the caring and just society that they desire. Those carrying more than 15 grams of heroin are subject to the death penalty, however many Singaporeans contend that affordable and high quality healthcare and housing, decent jobs with living wages, and free, accessible community-based rehabilitation programs are what will deter people from the drug trade. Experts from the United Nations agree that the death sentence is disproportionate for the crime in question and asset that those convicted are often victims of larger societal issues. Yet despite these country-wide calls for the government to reconsider capital punishment, abolition of executions is unlikely to occur in the near future.

Palatino, M. (2022, November 7). ‘Stop the Killing’ Campaign Seeks to Abolish the Death Penalty in Singapore. Global Voices. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://globalvoices.org/2022/11/07/stop-the-killing-campaign-seeks-to-abolitish-the-death-penalty-in-singapore/