SINGAPORE: Singapore on Friday hanged a 55-year-old man for drug trafficking, its narcotics enforcement agency said, marking the city-states third execution in a week as the United Nations called for a halt.
The UN and rights groups argue that capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for it to be abolished, but Singaporean officials insist it has helped make the country one of Asias safest.
Singapores central narcotics bureau (CNB) stated that the death sentence was carried out for Rosman Abdullah, who was convicted of trafficking 57.4g of heroin.
Under the countrys strict drug laws, the death penalty applies to any quantity exceeding a 15g threshold.
The hanging at Changi Prison followed the Nov 15 execution of two men a 39-year-old Malaysian and a 53-year-old Singaporean also for drug trafficking.
Rosman was accorded full due process under the law and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process, CNB said in a statement.
The Singaporean, first sentenced in July 2010, had exhausted all his appeals, including one for clemency from the president.
His execution was the eighth in the city-state this year, seven for drug trafficking and one for murder.
According to an AFP tally, Singapore has hanged 24 people since resuming executions in March 2022, after a two-year halt during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The UN on Thursday reiterated its call for Singapore to reconsider its stance on capital punishment.
The use of the death penalty for drug-related offences is incompatible with international human rights law. There is increasing evidence showing the ineffectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent, UN human rights spokesman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
However, the CNB maintained that capital punishment is imposed only for the most serious crimes, such as the trafficking of significant quantities of drugs which cause very serious harm to users and society at large.