S’pore launches survey to know public opinion on death penalty

Singapore, Oct. 31: Singapore will gauge public attitudes towards the death penalty in a survey, the interior ministry said on Wednesday, as human rights groups renewed calls for its abolition.

The city- state — which staunchly maintains that capital punishment is a crime deterrent — executed eight convicts last year, the highest number in a decade, according to official data. They had all committed drug offences.

The Straits Times said it was the first time that the government department in charge of prisons has conducted a survey on the subject.

Last week’s hanging in Singapore of convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Prabu N. Pathmanathan sparked fresh calls to scrap capital punishment, a penalty that dates to British colonial rule but has been retained by the city state since independence.

Neighbouring Malaysia, where the Cabinet had decided to abolish the death penalty, had asked Singapore to spare the 31year- old convict on humanitarian grounds.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA) is conducting the survey to give us a better understanding of Singapore residents’ attitudes towards the death penalty,” MHA said in a statement said. It said the survey is part of the government’s “regular research on our criminal justice system”.

The city- state — which staunchly maintains that capital punishment is a crime deterrent — executed eight convicts last year, the highest number in a decade, according to official data