Death penalty an effective deterrent

[kobayashiGT]

Death penalty an effective deterrent

Sources: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/death-penalty-an-effective-deterrent

 

 

Law Minister K. Shanmugam highlighted how the Pakatan Harapan government has made three requests to stop executions of Malaysians in Singapore since it took power in Malaysia a year ago (No exceptions for Malaysians on death row: Shanmugam, May 25).

 

He said we have to respect that some Malaysian ministers are "ideologically opposed" to the death penalty.

 

With regard to the case of Malaysian drug mule Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who is on death row here, if the Malaysian ministers believe his life is precious, they should consider that drug trafficking can also destroy the precious lives of many drug abusers.

 

The death penalty has been shown to be an effective deterrent among drug offenders.

 

We should not be distracted from doing the right thing for Singapore.

 

Ong Heng Poh

 

 

I would prefer to have such heavy sentence in Singapore as a deterence to drug acts.

 

[Ash2017]

When I was younger there is ONLY black and white BUT as I grow older there is a grey area forming.

 

For those who agree death penalty is the ONLY way, then asked yourself to volunteer to be the guy who pull the level to hang the prison and looked into him or her eyes as you pull the level, tell him or her, you deserve it.

 

Most of us have a religion, what does all these religions teach us, don't kill but yet we cordone to such arcade punishment. Aren't we all hypocrites.

 

The law clearly states, regardless of what, killing in any form is a crime, even in self defense you may loose in court for killing someone, so why does the same court of law contradicts the notion of killing.

 

Everyday, thousands are fighting to live for one more day. And we just take away one persons life just like that for being a mule.

 

 

Some say, this stupid mule could potentially hurt few to many people. By the way, why nobody asked for blood with the hepatitis saga where a few but one too many got literally murdered. The latter most accept it is an honest mistake. Worse, their punished and who involved were kept secrets in more ways than one allowed to know.

 

We all know smoking and alcohol causes addiction, like a drug, but we still legally allowed because of taxes collected? Smoking causes cancer and other related disease including alcohol. How many got killed by the disease and those second-hand smoke? How many got assaulted, lost limbs and killed by a drunkened. Even how many got molested and raped because of alcohol. These are happening on a daily basis around the world and in Singapore too. 

 

The funny thing is the biggest joke, one MRT senior management got caught drink driving, then got fine, later on got caught again for drink driving. What happened if he killed someone? You know there is no capital punishment for drink driving killing someone. 

 

We are a civilised society and not a cannibal society, so we need to ask like one. Otherwise what is the different from Brunei recent changed of laws. It is matter of wordings.

 

Capital punishment is not appropriate when medical technology and advances discover why people do certain things, eg homosexual which LKY himself acknowledge had genetic components. Today burnout is included by WHO as a disease. Just because we cant explain the cause for people doing something NOW, that does not mean we use a sledgehammer to crack a peanut.

[Cheesey74]

Death penalty an effective deterrent

Sources: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/death-penalty-an-effective-deterrent

 

 

Law Minister K. Shanmugam highlighted how the Pakatan Harapan government has made three requests to stop executions of Malaysians in Singapore since it took power in Malaysia a year ago (No exceptions for Malaysians on death row: Shanmugam, May 25).

 

He said we have to respect that some Malaysian ministers are "ideologically opposed" to the death penalty.

 

With regard to the case of Malaysian drug mule Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who is on death row here, if the Malaysian ministers believe his life is precious, they should consider that drug trafficking can also destroy the precious lives of many drug abusers.

 

The death penalty has been shown to be an effective deterrent among drug offenders.

 

We should not be distracted from doing the right thing for Singapore.

 

Ong Heng Poh

 

 

Death penalty against drug traffickers n the likes, 100% support, non negotiable, u reap what u sow.. period.

[RadX]

When I was younger there is ONLY black and white BUT as I grow older there is a grey area forming.

 

For those who agree death penalty is the ONLY way, then asked yourself to volunteer to be the guy who pull the level to hang the prison and looked into him or her eyes as you pull the level, tell him or her, you deserve it.

 

Most of us have a religion, what does all these religions teach us, don't kill but yet we cordone to such arcade punishment. Aren't we all hypocrites.

 

The law clearly states, regardless of what, killing in any form is a crime, even in self defense you may loose in court for killing someone, so why does the same court of law contradicts the notion of killing.

 

Everyday, thousands are fighting to live for one more day. And we just take away one persons life just like that for being a mule.

 

 

Some say, this stupid mule could potentially hurt few to many people. By the way, why nobody asked for blood with the hepatitis saga where a few but one too many got literally murdered. The latter most accept it is an honest mistake. Worse, their punished and who involved were kept secrets in more ways than one allowed to know.

 

We all know smoking and alcohol causes addiction, like a drug, but we still legally allowed because of taxes collected? Smoking causes cancer and other related disease including alcohol. How many got killed by the disease and those second-hand smoke? How many got assaulted, lost limbs and killed by a drunkened. Even how many got molested and raped because of alcohol. These are happening on a daily basis around the world and in Singapore too. 

 

The funny thing is the biggest joke, one MRT senior management got caught drink driving, then got fine, later on got caught again for drink driving. What happened if he killed someone? You know there is no capital punishment for drink driving killing someone. 

 

We are a civilised society and not a cannibal society, so we need to ask like one. Otherwise what is the different from Brunei recent changed of laws. It is matter of wordings.

 

Capital punishment is not appropriate when medical technology and advances discover why people do certain things, eg homosexual which LKY himself acknowledge had genetic components. Today burnout is included by WHO as a disease. Just because we cant explain the cause for people doing something NOW, that does not mean we use a sledgehammer to crack a peanut.

 

 

I applied for the position of the hangman, mind you.  This was after it was announced that the former fella was retiring.......

 

 

Dealing with the dead and sending them there are part and parcel of business continuity

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/11/03/004/36130/foreignaffairs/Singapore-s-Retiring-Hangman-and-His-Next-Victim

It is a task that requires you to also do calculations so that you get eh effective snap of the C1-2 in order to break the stem where cardiac and respiratory functions cease

Singapore's Retiring Hangman and His Next Victim

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs 

Posted on Thu Nov 03, 2005 at 09:17:24 PM EST 

Tags: (all tags)

Share This: Digg!     

Unfortunately, this is a true story.

 

photo by journalist Alan Shadrake,

Darshan Singh is Singapore's official executioner. He has hanged more than 850 people in his 43 years on the job. He wants to retire. But he can't find a replacement.

"He tried to train two would-be hangmen to replace him, a Malaysian and a Chinese, both in the prison service," [his] colleague said. "But when it came to pulling the lever for the real thing, they both froze and could not do it.

The pot-bellied grandfather and former Singapore caner has an all-time record of hanging 18 people in one day. He hangs his victims while wearing very casual attire, usually a t-shirt and shorts.

 

Mr Singh joined the British colonial prison service in the mid-1950s after arriving from Malaysia. When the long-established British hangman Mr Seymour retired, Singh, then 27, volunteered for the job. He was attracted by the bonus payment for executions.

Mr Singh is credited with being the only executioner in the world to single-handedly hang 18 men in one day – three at a time....To mark his 500th hanging four years ago, four of his former colleagues turned up at his home to celebrate the event with a couple of bottles of Chivas Regal.

As a caner, he earned 50 cents a stroke. His colleague provides this in his defense:

Mr Singh reportedly spends time getting to know the condemned prisoners, especially those who do not receive visitors or religious support. "He is a very kindly man and although it's his job to end their lives he does feel for them," his friend said. "Mr Singh tries to comfort them if they are completely alone in the world at such a horrible time."

Who's next for the as yet unretired hangman? A 25 year old drug Australian drug trafficker with no prior record named Nguyen Van Tuong :

Van Tuong Nguyen, no previous criminal record, born in a refugee camp in Thailand, moved to Australia [with] mother and twin brother when six months old. Van told investigating officers he had agreed to carry a packet of heroin in order to pay off debts owed by his twin brother. He said he did not know how much he was being paid for the trip. It was his first trip outside Australia. He was such an amateur he ran through Changi airport.

Amnesty International Australia has taken up his cause. He is to be hanged in two weeks. You can go to StopHanging.com and sign a petiton to spare his life.

According to Amnesty International, Singapore executes more people per capita than any other country in the world. Anyone caught with 15 grams or more of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence. Alas, the high rate of executions for drug-traffickers has not reduced drug-related crimes in Singapore.

There's more at the Reach Out campaign (pdf) Please take a moment to trace your hand on a piece of paper and fax it. Why? His friends explain:

Amnesty International Australia

 features a 

PDF, 

where two of his friends Kelly Ng and Bronwen Lew are asking people who care about Van's life to trace a copy of their hand as a gesture of solidarity. Why the hand? Because placing your hand against a glass window, on the other side of which a condemned prisoner sits and places their own hand, is probably the most poignant memory for those of us who have gone through this experience of contact to death row inmates. It is at once a gesture of solidarity hope and frailty.

Kelly and Bronwen ask that you send the copy of the hand to them at the postal address given at the bottom of the flyer on the Amnesty Australia site. They will collect the hands and send them to President Nathan. As postage to Australia may take some time, please also fax a copy of the hand directly to Van at:

Condemned Prisoner 

C856

 Nguyen Tuong Van

Fax 65469208

Telephone confirmation: 65469141

 

[Porker]

There won't be traffickers if capital punishment is really effective as a deterrent.

 

Drug abusers should be hanged alongside the traffickers since both are part of the supply chain. Parents of abusers should be jailed since they failed to educate their children and want to pin the blame on suppliers. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

 

Legalise drug use and the underground market will collapse.

[Ash2017]

Death penalty against drug traffickers n the likes, 100% support, non negotiable, u reap what u sow.. period.

 

 

Many know AIDs kill. Yet many still go to red-light district like Geylang and have unprotected sex.

 

Some eventually will acquire AIDs.

 

These same individuals who have acquired AIDs, many of them will suck our healthcare system including subsidy and taking a place in doctor's consultation and hospital bed. This group of people like the drug mule - reap what you sow like you say. BUT they deprive others who were innocent from their entitlement.

 

Don't forget they go around infecting others too and make their lives miserable.

 

We are view this issue through the eyes that DRUGs is evil. Today many countries are turning and making taking drugs legal. If eventually we change our laws too in the distant future, how to return those whom the country has taken their lives. 

 

We know court's judgement are never 100% foolproof. Only in Singapore there is nobody willing to challenge the judgement or nobody has deep pockets. We do know evidence do surface from time to time. What happened if there is a mistake in the course of justice.

 

Why dont any of you apply the same dogmatic reasoning for this group of people too?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I applied for the position of the hangman, mind you.  This was after it was announced that the former fella was retiring.......

 

 

Dealing with the dead and sending them there are part and parcel of business continuity

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/11/03/004/36130/foreignaffairs/Singapore-s-Retiring-Hangman-and-His-Next-Victim

It is a task that requires you to also do calculations so that you get eh effective snap of the C1-2 in order to break the stem where cardiac and respiratory functions cease

Singapore's Retiring Hangman and His Next Victim

By Jeralyn, Section Foreign Affairs 

Posted on Thu Nov 03, 2005 at 09:17:24 PM EST 

Tags: (all tags)

Share This: Digg!     

Unfortunately, this is a true story.

 

photo by journalist Alan Shadrake,

Darshan Singh is Singapore's official executioner. He has hanged more than 850 people in his 43 years on the job. He wants to retire. But he can't find a replacement.

The pot-bellied grandfather and former Singapore caner has an all-time record of hanging 18 people in one day. He hangs his victims while wearing very casual attire, usually a t-shirt and shorts.

"He tried to train two would-be hangmen to replace him, a Malaysian and a Chinese, both in the prison service," [his] colleague said. "But when it came to pulling the lever for the real thing, they both froze and could not do it.

 

As a caner, he earned 50 cents a stroke. His colleague provides this in his defense:

Mr Singh joined the British colonial prison service in the mid-1950s after arriving from Malaysia. When the long-established British hangman Mr Seymour retired, Singh, then 27, volunteered for the job. He was attracted by the bonus payment for executions.

Mr Singh is credited with being the only executioner in the world to single-handedly hang 18 men in one day – three at a time....To mark his 500th hanging four years ago, four of his former colleagues turned up at his home to celebrate the event with a couple of bottles of Chivas Regal.

Who's next for the as yet unretired hangman? A 25 year old drug Australian drug trafficker with no prior record named Nguyen Van Tuong :

Mr Singh reportedly spends time getting to know the condemned prisoners, especially those who do not receive visitors or religious support. "He is a very kindly man and although it's his job to end their lives he does feel for them," his friend said. "Mr Singh tries to comfort them if they are completely alone in the world at such a horrible time."

Van Tuong Nguyen, no previous criminal record, born in a refugee camp in Thailand, moved to Australia [with] mother and twin brother when six months old. Van told investigating officers he had agreed to carry a packet of heroin in order to pay off debts owed by his twin brother. He said he did not know how much he was being paid for the trip. It was his first trip outside Australia. He was such an amateur he ran through Changi airport.

Amnesty International Australia has taken up his cause. He is to be hanged in two weeks. You can go to StopHanging.com and sign a petiton to spare his life.

There's more at the Reach Out campaign (pdf) Please take a moment to trace your hand on a piece of paper and fax it. Why? His friends explain:

According to Amnesty International, Singapore executes more people per capita than any other country in the world. Anyone caught with 15 grams or more of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence. Alas, the high rate of executions for drug-traffickers has not reduced drug-related crimes in Singapore.

 

Amnesty International Australia features a PDF, where two of his friends Kelly Ng and Bronwen Lew are asking people who care about Van's life to trace a copy of their hand as a gesture of solidarity. Why the hand? Because placing your hand against a glass window, on the other side of which a condemned prisoner sits and places their own hand, is probably the most poignant memory for those of us who have gone through this experience of contact to death row inmates. It is at once a gesture of solidarity hope and frailty.

Kelly and Bronwen ask that you send the copy of the hand to them at the postal address given at the bottom of the flyer on the Amnesty Australia site. They will collect the hands and send them to President Nathan. As postage to Australia may take some time, please also fax a copy of the hand directly to Van at:

Condemned Prisoner C856 Nguyen Tuong Van

Fax 65469208

Telephone confirmation: 65469141

 

 

 

shocking

 

you got varied interest.

 

Don't remember seeing your application? 

 

The most recent application was from a person who reply that he is contactable only on the 7th month.

 

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by Ash2017

[Mkl22]

There won't be traffickers if capital punishment is really effective as a deterrent.

 

Drug abusers should be hanged alongside the traffickers since both are part of the supply chain. Parents of abusers should be jailed since they failed to educate their children and want to pin the blame on suppliers. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

 

Legalise drug use and the underground market will collapse.

 

same with alcohol vs prohibition time in the 1930s in the US?

[Spring]

I'm against death penalty as my values and religion tells me that no human can put another human to death no matter what he did as only God can decide when you die, period. Perhaps it's not the way of the World.

 

Anyway, religion aside; can we honestly say the death penalty has put a stop to the various crimes like drug trafficking, murder etc? These crimes continue to be in our midst so I don't agree that it has been an effective deterrent as it has been made out to be, my 2 cents.......  

[Watwheels]

Many ppl just stop and focus on the death penalty alone but nobody talked about the consequences when the drugs enters into our homes and neighbourhood. How drugs will ruin lives and families affected by drugs?

 

I would say to hell with the righteous minded and deliver the death penalty.

[Jman888]

even though he escape death here, i think he is as good as dead when he return home    

Nigerian man on death row cleared of importing close to 2kg of Ice

Selina LumLaw Correspondent 

PUBLISHED MAY 27, 2019, 7:59 PM SGT

 

SINGAPORE - A Nigerian man, originally sentenced to death for importing nearly 2kg of methamphetamine, commonly known as Ice, escaped the gallows on Monday (May 27) after he was cleared on appeal.

 

In handing down the acquittal, the Court of Appeal said the prosecution had failed to establish that Adili Chibuike Ejike knew that the drug bundles in his suitcase were in his possession, which was a key element of the offence.

 

The three-judge court, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, disagreed with the prosecution that Adili had been "wilfully blind" to the existence of the drugs.

 

Even if the Nigerian had taken reasonable steps to check the contents of his suitcase, he would not have discovered the drugs, which were found only when the inner lining was cut open by the authorities, said the court.

 

Wilful blindness is a legal term to describe a person deliberately shutting his eyes to the truth and entails that had he opened his eyes, he would have seen it.

 

The court ruled that someone is wilfully blind if it is proved that he had a clear and grounded suspicion, that he had reasonable means of inquiry, and that he deliberately refused to pursue the inquiry.

 

In November 2011, Adili, who was 28 at the time, arrived at Changi Airport with a small suitcase.

 

After an X-ray scan showed an area of darker density, immigration officers cut the inner lining of the bag, revealing two bundles. These were later found to contain 1.96kg of Ice.

 

Adili, who was unemployed, said a childhood friend in Nigeria had agreed to give him some financial help if he delivered the suitcase together with some money to an unspecified person in Singapore.

 

The trial focused on his knowledge about the contents of the suitcase, as both the prosecution and the defence agreed that he was in possession of the drugs.

 

The defence argued that Adili did not know the bundles of Ice were in the suitcase.

 

The prosecution's case was that he had failed to rebut the presumption of knowledge under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).

 

The circumstances surrounding his task were extremely suspicious and he was wilfully blind by failing to find out what he had been tasked to deliver, the prosecution argued.

 

At the end of the trial, a High Court judge rejected Adili's testimony and found him guilty.

 

Adili appealed against his conviction and death sentence.

 

On Monday, in a written judgment, the apex court said the focus of the case should really be whether Adili was, as a matter of law, in possession of the drugs.

 

This was because "possession" in this context required not just physical custody but also knowledge.

 

The court said a person m

ust know about the existence of a thing - that later turns out to be drugs - before he can be said to "possess" it in a legal sense.

 

The prosecution's argument that Adili was wilfully blind implies that it accepts that he did not actually know of the existence of the drugs, said the court.

 

Therefore, the prosecution cannot invoke the presumption of possession in this case, the court concluded.

 

What is left is for prosecutors to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Adili had been wilfully blind to the existence of the hidden drugs, said the court.

 

"However, it is clear to us that a person opening the case and checking through its contents would not have been able to discover the drug bundles, which were eventually found hidden within its inner lining," said the court.

 

Hence, the court concluded that Adili was not wilfully blind.

 

[PSP415]

If no death penalty, there will be less crimes, no crimes or more crimes?

 

Best is no crimes but then its human to err so that's expecting alot.

 

Death penalty is for what type of crimes? Spitting, littering, stealing, spreading fake news, shooting rubber bands on roads?

 

Its for very serious crimes that often involve killing at least another human being like premeditated murder, killing the abusers softly, slowly but surely like drugs trafficking are examples that have been effective.

 

Effective? Like drunk driving may kill, indulging in unprotected sex with an infected person can get aids, ppl know the risks but think they are either above God and the laws of the land or they won't get caught cos got brain bigger than peas, theirs are broad beans sized. They are aware of the consequences and still chose to go against the laws. Why should we go easy on these who blatantly disregard lives of others and kill, in the case of murder? Its ok because they deserve a second chance? Did the victim not deserve the same chance to live?

 

God expects us all to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. This includes the laws of the govt besides paying taxes. I do not credit God with allowing evil doers to be let off or allowing evil to grow. That's my understanding of what He is about.

[mersaylee]

I’m sure it can be automated...set timer, press a button, go lim kopi, come back sign docu then next one...no need manual lever and witness it live.

[Count-Bracula]

A weird rebuttal . . . then you catch them before we do. 

[Sosaria]

The recent 2 cases are interesting and highlights an important point. For the "mule" to escape death, the drugs has to be hidden somewhere inaccessible so that it is plausible for the guy to claim that he really did not know what he was carrying. That's how the Nigerian was saved from death sentence.

 

As for the Malaysian seems that he cannot resort to such defence as the stuff was strapped to his body.

 

For the argument that trafficking still exists though there is death penalty, well think of it this way, there'll be much much more trafficking if there was no death penalty.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Sosaria

[Hamburger]

It seems many tend to believe that drug abuser is a menace to the society and i agreed, but its a minority.

 

They are addicted and could not stay abstinence from it. Other than harming their own bodies, few would choose to do trafficking and are charged for possession.

 

To have a death sentence on drug abuser, that is too harsh.

 

Its a disease that would requires a lot from them to overcome it, both physically and mentally.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Hamburger

[BanCoe]

I’m ok with the hanging even though my religion forbids any form of violence or killing in any form but religion and state must be treated separately when it comes to crime ( be it even if innocent but wrongly accused ) ...... then it’s just your bad luck or fate( as one would put it ).....God will surely help you if you are really innocent ...signal is clear...... Mules know it’s a quick buck... if not people will just courier over parcels

End of the day ..... it sends a clear deterrence message

Edited May 29, 2019 by BanCoe

[Lava]

It seems many tend to believe that drug abuser is a menace to the society and i agreed, but its a minority.

 

They are addicted and could not stay abstinence from it. Other than harming their own bodies, few would choose to do trafficking and are charged for possession.

 

To have a death sentence on drug abuser, that is too harsh.

 

Its a disease that would requires a lot from them to overcome it, both physically and mentally.

they are just going after money, they don't care how many are being killed and how many families are being destroyed due to their drugs.

 

they should receive more than a death sentence.

[Victor68]

I believe the key word here is 'effective deterrent'. When you cause death to another person or worse many other innocence, even with your death do not compensated their lost.

 

So how do we deter you from committing  such acts? If it is between jail and death, the later will be a much more effective tool. A 70 years old killing a 20 years old and paid for his life does not do justice also but it is a deterrence in same way.