Hundreds of people demonstrated this Sunday in Singapore, a rare occurrence in the city-state where everything is tightly under control, against the death penalty, while the power seems to want to resume executions.
A man was hanged on March 30, in the first execution since 2019 and several other convicts have just had their latest appeals dismissed.
"Don't kill in our name", "Capital punishment does not improve our security", shouted placards held up by some 400 demonstrators present at the "Speakers' Corner" of a park in the downtown, the only place in Singapore where demonstrations can be held without prior permission.
"Capital punishment is a brutal system that bullies us all," said Kirsten Han, a well-known activist, in a speech to the crowd, calling "instead to fight inequalities and systems of exploitation and oppression that leave people on the margins and without support”.
Only when we stand together, when we practice compassion and care in defiance of a regime that turns killing into an administrative act, can we keep one another strong and push forward.
pic.twitter.com/OceCqi1gYv
— Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 (@kixes) April 4, 2022
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The death penalty to fight drug trafficking
Demonstrations are rarely allowed in Singapore, and aside from Speakers' Corner, it is illegal for even one person to hold a public protest without police permission.
Abdul Kahar Othman, a 68-year-old drug trafficker, was hanged on Wednesday despite pleas for clemency from the United Nations and human rights groups.
Next to be executed could be Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, a mentally handicapped Malaysian convicted of heroin trafficking.
His case provoked a storm of criticism, including in Europe.
Three other drug traffickers had their appeals dismissed in March.
Singapore, a prosperous but extremely conservative state, has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and authorities believe the death penalty plays a role in preventing the trafficking that plagues many other countries.
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Singapore
Demonstration
Death sentence