KUALA LUMPUR – On the heels of the execution of Malaysian Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, Singapore is “overdue” for a national conversation on the abolition of its death penalty, said British tycoon Richard Branson.
In a statement late last night, he said the case has raised questions about “good governance, transparency, due process, fairness, and about Singapore’s commitment to international agreements”.
“Singapore will not be the same after this. People are rightly beginning to doubt the need for the death penalty. More are speaking up. A national conversation is long overdue.
“If a system cannot protect the rights of those with disabilities, if it cannot offer empathy and reprieve, then something is fundamentally broken.
“This will not go away. I’d rather know Singapore as a modern, world-class hub of trade than as a place that wastes its resources and its reputation on hanging people.”
Branson and other international figures have urged for clemency prior to Nagaenthran’s execution.
He also described Singapore as “stubborn” and that justice was not served in the execution.
“Singapore’s relentless machinery of death did what it always does. Stubbornly rejecting international human rights law and the views of experts, it left no room for decency, dignity, compassion, or mercy.
“Justice wasn’t served. We had been campaigning to save his life. He was not a criminal.
“He was a victim – of his personal circumstances; of drug cartels that prey on the vulnerable; of a justice system that so consistently seems to fail minorities, the marginalised, and the poor.”
He added that the death penalty should be abolished in Singapore and elsewhere.
Previously, he said the death penalty was a “horrible blotch” on the city-state’s reputation.
Branson is also part of a group with other business leaders that campaigns against capital punishment.
Nagaenthran was convicted of trafficking a small amount of heroin into Singapore and spent 11 years on death row. His case had generated some concern in Singapore, and hundreds of people held a candlelight vigil at a downtown park late Monday to protest the execution.
After a hiatus of more than two years, Singapore resumed executions last month when it put a drug trafficker to death.
Activists fear authorities are now set to embark on a wave of executions – Malaysian Datchinamurthy Kataiah, who was convicted of drug offences, is scheduled to be hanged tomorrow, while several others on death row recently had their appeals rejected.
Singapore has defended its use of the death penalty, saying it has helped keep the city-state one of Asia’s safest places. – The Vibes, April 28, 2022
