Activists Worry Singapore Will Renew Executions to Clear Backlog

After not carrying out any executions for the past two years, courts in Singapore are set to consider arguments by four men who have spent more than a decade on death row as families and activists voice fears that there is now a backlog, believed to consist of more than 50 men awaiting execution, the majority of whom have been convicted of drug offenses, that the authorities are attempting to clear, reports The Guardian. Despite a number of pending court applications that forced the authorities to pause proceedings, sentences of the death penalty have continued to be handed down, even during the height of the pandemic when hearings were held over Zoom.

In 2012, a legal change granted Singaporean judges narrow discretion to sentence convicts to life imprisonment and possible caning if certain criteria are met. Individuals must prove they were acting only as a courier, and must obtain a certificate of substantive assistance, confirming that they had provided information that significantly helped disrupt drug trafficking activities, or prove they have a mental or intellectual disability that substantially impaired their mental responsibility. Inmates who appear to meet such criteria struggle to have this accepted by courts that enforce some of the world’s toughest drug laws, which Singapore’s government claims are the most effective deterrent against crime.