May 13
SINGAPORE----execution
Singapore hangs drug trafficker
A Singaporean drug trafficker was hanged on Friday after his teenaged sons
failed in a last-ditch bid to stop the execution, his lawyer said.
Shanmugam Murugesu, 38, was put to death by hanging at 0600 (2200 GMT) in
Changi prison.
"The casket company is already at the prison preparing to take his body
home for the funeral," his lawyer M. Ravi told Reuters.
Shanmugam was arrested at the Malaysian border in August 2003 with 1.03 kg
(2.27 lb) of cannabis and lost an appeal against a conviction for drug
trafficking. His clemency bid was rejected by Singapore's President S.R.
Nathan last month.
The case has stoked controversy and put the spotlight on the high
execution rate in Singapore, which enforces some of the world's toughest
drug laws.
Anyone aged 18 or over convicted of carrying more than 500 grams (17.6
ounces) of cannabis faces mandatory execution by hanging.
In the past weeks, local groups had campaigned for Shanmugam, organising
performances, forums and vigils in a rare display of activism for
Singapore.
His twin 14-year-old sons, Gopalan and Krishnan Murugesu, had handed out
hundreds of flyers in shopping districts to seek public support to stop
Friday's execution.
In its 2004 report, rights group Amnesty International said about 400
people had been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug
trafficking, giving the wealthy city-state of 4.2 million people possibly
the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population.
Amnesty said only 6 people sentenced to death in Singapore had been spared
execution.
Singapore has defended its use of the death penalty and maintained that
capital punishment has deterred major drug syndicates from establishing
themselves in Singapore.
(source: Reuters)
