A drug trafficker was hanged in Singapore on Wednesday (March 30) in the first execution since 2019 in the city-state, activists said, despite appeals for clemency from the United Nations and NGOs.
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Abdul Kahar Othman, a Singaporean man sentenced to death in 2015, was executed on Wednesday morning, according to a local anti-death penalty activist.
"
Rest in peace
," tweeted activist Kirsten Han, "
we should all be ashamed of what the state did in our name today
."
NGOs fear that this hanging is only the first in a series of executions.
Four people executed in 2019
A member of a support group for relatives of death row inmates in Singapore, speaking anonymously, confirmed to AFP that the execution took place.
She said she was waiting for the body to arrive at the Muslim cemetery.
Abdul Kahar Othman was part of the city's Muslim minority.
Singaporean authorities did not respond to requests for confirmation.
In 2019, four people were hanged, according to the prison administration.
The socially conservative country has some of the most repressive drug laws in the world.
More and more rights groups are calling for him to drop the death penalty.
Authorities insist, however, that the death penalty remains an effective deterrent to drug trafficking and has helped make Singapore one of the safest places in Asia.
According to the Transformative Justice Collective, a Singaporean group that campaigns against the death penalty, Abdul Kahar, 68, was convicted of heroin trafficking in 2013 and sentenced to death two years later.
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday urged authorities to drop the hanging.
“
We are concerned about the upsurge in enforcement notices this year
,” he said in a tweet.
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, a mentally disabled Malaysian convicted of heroin trafficking, could be hanged in the coming days after his appeal was dismissed on Tuesday.
His case sparked a torrent of criticism, including from the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson.
In addition, three other death row inmates saw their appeals rejected in early March.