Singapore’s death row ‘main element of its drug policy’
Singapore’s use of the death penalty returned to the global spotlight last month when Tangaraju Suppiah became the first person to be executed in the city-state this year.
His case centered on the trafficking of just over 1kg of cannabis and made headlines around the world, with some expressing surprise at Singapore’s continued strict approach to drugs.
It is known that 11 men were hanged by the state last year. Singapore’s prison authorities do not report details of these cases, so information is collected through prisoners’ families or campaign groups.
One such organisation, the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), believes there are currently 54 people on death row in Singapore, with all but three sentenced to death for drug-related offences.
“It shows that the government of Singapore is very committed to the death penalty as the most important part of its drug policy,” said Sara Kowal, vice president of Australia’s Capital Punishment Justice Project.
United Nations human rights experts have also pointed to the number of death row inmates belonging to ethnic minorities, saying “a disproportionate number of minorities were sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in Singapore”.
Research by the TJC found that nearly two-thirds of offenders facing death sentences for drug offenses between 2010 and 2021 were of Malaysian ethnicity, a minority in the city-state.
Al Jazeera contacted Singapore’s Home Office for comment, but they did not respond.
They have previously said that the “criminal laws and procedures of the country apply equally to all, regardless of background – race, nationality, level of education or financial status”.
The ministry has also defended the use of the death penalty, arguing that the death penalty “an essential part of Singapore’s criminal justice system and has been effective in keeping Singapore safe.”
Despite international pressure, the city-state has shown little interest in relaxing its strict drug laws, and activists this week said they had been warned about the hanging — scheduled for May 17 — of a prisoner convicted of cannabis trafficking.
The UN says that, if maintained, the death penalty should only be used for the most serious crime and that drug offenses do not reach that threshold.
But the latest report on the use of the death penalty in 2022 shows that the number of global executions for drug-related crimes more than doubled last year compared to 2021.
The inmates profiled below are some of those living on death row in Singapore after being found guilty of drug charges.
Pannir Selvam Pranthaman
Pannir was 27 years old when he was arrested in 2014 at the Woodlands border checkpoint in the north of the island, which separates Malaysia and Singapore.
Inspection officers found small bags of drugs strapped to his crotch and tucked into the back seat compartment of his motorcycle.
He was arrested and charged with smuggling 51 grams of diamorphine (heroin). Under Singaporean law, anyone carrying more than 2 grams of diamorphine is considered to have that drug for the purpose of commerce.
Three years after his arrest, Pannir was sentenced to death.
Pannir, a musician from the northwestern Malaysian city of Ipoh, has fought continuously to stop his execution, supported by his family who have set up a website and started a petition for his freedom.
They have also shared the songs and poems Pannir has written on death row, hoping to raise awareness of his plight.
In May 2019, their worst fears came true when Pannir was given a date for his execution.
“Before that, he had never been charged or convicted of any crime. The news of his death sentence came as a complete shock to our family and devastated us,” Pannir’s family wrote in the petition.
Pannir filed a last-ditch criminal motion to try to stay alive. He was supposed to represent himself in court, but unexpectedly two lawyers agreed to take on his case.
On the eve of his execution, Pannir was granted a stay by the Court of Appeal after he said he intended to legally challenge the president’s rejection of his clemency request.
His family says his experience on death row at Changi Prison has transformed him, that he feels “deep remorse” for his actions and now wants the opportunity to educate others about the risks of drug abuse.
For now, Pannir’s fate remains in the hands of the justice system. He is part of a class action civil suit against the Singapore Prison Service over private letters released to the Attorney General’s Chambers.
That case was recently adjourned for 10 weeks, giving Pannir more time.
Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin
Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin was arrested in Singapore in August 2011. He was then 35 years old.
The Singaporean was convicted in 2015 of possessing 38 grams of diamorphine for human trafficking. A year later he was sentenced to death.
Like Pannir, Syed has previously been assigned a date for his hanging. He was also given a stay of execution with only a day left.
He learned of the date of his execution in September 2020, when Singapore’s borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It meant that many of Syed’s close relatives in Malaysia were unable to visit him. He reflected on this in a letter to his lawyer just three days before he was to be hanged.
“The callousness and whole new level of cruelty that decision makers have decided to unleash is felt more by my loved ones, even if it is directed at me,” he wrote.
Syed’s sister, Sharmila, shared another letter she received from her brother in April 2022.
“The harshness and brutality that some claim to be just is not. Two mistakes don’t make a right. In the end, there is only a legacy of bloodshed that posterity may not even want to get their hands on,” he wrote.
Syed is now part of the same civil suit as Pannir. His execution has also been stayed pending the outcome of that case.
Saridewi Jamani
Saridewi Djamani is one of only two women to be on death row according to the TJC.
“Because we are not as closely connected to the families of women on death row, and because the women are kept separate from the men, we don’t get much information about their condition and treatment,” Kirsten Han, a Singaporean who campaigns against the death row. death penalty, Al Jazeera told.
Saridewi, a drug user, was 40 years old when she was sentenced to death in 2018.
She was charged with possession of just over 1 kg of “powdery substance”, including 30 g of diamorphine, for the purposes of human trafficking.
Her case revolves around events that took place in her apartment in Singapore in June 2016.
Prosecutors said she met a Malaysian man there who gave her a plastic bag of drugs in exchange for envelopes containing at least 10,050 Singapore dollars ($7,526) in cash. Court documents show that the man was carrying an extra envelope containing 5,500 Singapore dollars ($4,119) when he was caught.
Soon after, police officers arrived at Saridewi’s flat. The detectives claimed that when she heard them coming, she immediately started throwing the drugs out of her kitchen window.
Only then did she let the officers into the apartment, where they arrested her after a search of the apartment and the surrounding area, they said.
Local media reported that Saridewi claimed she stocked up on heroin before Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, because she thought she might need to take more of the drug.
The court rejected her defence, and court documents show that a further appeal was unsuccessful.
Little else is known about Saridewi, and none of her family has come forward to publicize her case.
Datchinamurthy Kataiah
Datchinamurthy was 25 when he was caught with nearly 45 grams of diamorphine at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
He and his three sisters grew up in Johor Bahru, a Malaysian border town where many commute to Singapore every day for work. He was on his way to Singapore when he was arrested.
Datchinamurthy was sentenced to death in 2015 and failed on appeal a year later. In his defense, Datchinamurthy claimed he thought the drugs were Chinese medicines.
In April 2022, he was notified of his impending execution. Datchinamurthy was to be hanged just two days after fellow Malaysian Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was executed.
Nagaenthran’s case had sparked international condemnation from Singapore after he was revealed to have an IQ of 69, indicating intellectual disability.
On the eve of his scheduled execution, Datchinamurthy had to represent himself at an appeals hearing because his family was unable to obtain legal advice.
Nevertheless, Datchinamurthy won. He is also part of the civil trial case along with Syed and Pannir. The court ruled that he should be granted a stay of execution while that case goes through the courts.
Just days before that dramatic last-minute appeal, words from Datchinamurthy’s mother were read out at a rare protest against the death penalty in Singapore.
“These are our children, born from our bodies, and you will not let us touch them,” read TJC’s Kokila Annamalai on behalf of Lakshmi Amma.
Her words refer to how families can only see relatives on death row behind a glass panel, with no contact allowed.
Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad
Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad was arrested in May 2010 for drug offenses. He was 20 at the time – young enough to still be serving compulsory military service in Singapore.
When he drove a rented sports car to Bishan MRT station in the heart of the island, he was followed by police officers.
At the station, Masoud met a Malaysian man who got out of his own car and got into Masoud’s Mazda RX8. Soon after, the two parted ways, but both were later arrested at different locations.
Officers searched Masoud’s car and found drugs, some of them in a Mickey Mouse-branded bag. He was charged with possession of 31 grams of diamorphine for the purposes of human trafficking and received the same charge for 77 grams of methamphetamine (crystal meth).
According to court documents, Masoud told police he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Masoud also claimed that the drugs were planted in his car by an illegal money-lending syndicate after telling them he no longer wanted to work for them.
The Supreme Court rejected this defense and Masoud was convicted.
Like many death row inmates, little more is known about his situation.
In 2021, Masoud’s sister signed a public letter calling on Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob to abolish the death penalty.
A year later, he was among a group of death row inmates trying to learn more about whether their private letters had been passed on to the Attorney General. Unlike Pannir, Masoud’s case was dismissed.