SINGAPORE executed Malaysian Kalwant Singh this morning for drug trafficking, activist Kirsten Han confirmed.

In a tweet, she said Kalwant’s family have been handed his belongings and death certificates by the Singapore authorities.

Kalwant was arrested by Singaporean authorities on drug charges in 2013 and had been imprisoned since the date of his arrest.

Singapore High Court later convicted him of trafficking in 121g of diamorphine.

Yesterday, his final bid for a stay of execution was dismissed.

In April, another Malaysian, Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, 34, was executed despite pleas for clemency because he was intellectually challenged.

He was arrested in April 2009 and sentenced to death in 2011 under the Misuse of Drugs Act, for illegally importing 42.7g of diamorphine.

Since 2010, 14 Malaysians, 11 of them ethnic Indians, have been convicted of capital offences in Singapore, eight of which are still on death row. 

In an immediate reaction, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said Singapore should take immediate action to end executions for all drug-related crimes and commute the sentences of those on death row.

He said the execution today was a blatant flouting of international rights norms that prohibit cruel and unusual punishment. 

“Recent drug busts in the country show just how hollow Singapore’s claims are about the supposed ‘deterrent’ effect of these cruel executions,” he said in a statement. – July 7, 2022.