Singapore Fires Hangman
Singapore's Chief executioner and hangman Darshan Singh has been fired. TalkLeft profiled hangman Singh here, noting that he has hanged 850 people in his 43 years as Singapore's hangman.
Unfortunately, it will not help Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian of Vietnamese descent who is set to be hanged on December 2 for an offense involving 400 grams of heroin. Singapore is importing a new hangman within days.
Singapore's execution statistics are abominable.
Singapore has one of the world's toughest drug laws. Laws enacted in 1975 stipulate death by hanging for anyone aged 18 or over convicted of carrying more than 15 grams (0.5 ounce) of heroin, 30 grams (1.1 ounce) of cocaine, 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of cannabis or 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of methamphetamines.
Amnesty International said in a 2004 report that about 420 people had been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, giving the city-state of 4.2 million people the highest execution rate in the world relative to population.
Update: Australian Prime Minister John Howard says his fifth and final meeting with Singapore officials to spare Nguyen's life or agree to have his case transferred to the International Criminal Court has failed. Nguyen is to be hanged on Friday.
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