Singapore
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 4
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 7
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against...
- News items in the archive
- 349
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Singapore is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 4 executions in the country, against 7 the year before. The archive holds 349 news items on Singapore, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- FEBRUARY 21, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A Thai man facing the death sentence for murdering...
A Thai man facing the death sentence for murdering a taxi driver in Singapore has little chance of avoiding execution, a senior labour official said
- FEBRUARY 18, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Two men who were sentenced to hang for stabbing a cabby...
Two men who were sentenced to hang for stabbing a cabby to death with a bayonet in August 2001 had their appeals dismissed by the Court of Appeal
- FEBRUARY 15, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A Thai worker who murdered a taxi driver in Singapore...
A Thai worker who murdered a taxi driver in Singapore and stole his valuables is scheduled for execution on March 6
- JANUARY 17, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A 33-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to death by...
A 33-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to death by the High Court in Penang for trafficking in 801
- JANUARY 1, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Singapore takes a hard line on all illegal drugs, handing...
Singapore takes a hard line on all illegal drugs, handing out stiff sentences for possession and mandating the death penalty for trafficking in 15 grams or more of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine or 500 grams of cannabis
- JANUARY 1, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Six death-row inmates have had their death sentences...
Six death-row inmates have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment since Singapore became independent in 1965
- JANUARY 1, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Possession of a gun outside a gun club carries the...
Possession of a gun outside a gun club carries the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
To wage its war more effectively on drugs Singapore's...
To wage its war more effectively on drugs Singapore's highest court ruled that the act of helping dealers pack heroin into smaller sachets for sale is as bad as selling the drug
- JANUARY 1, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against...
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against the President, illegal possession of arms, kidnapping and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness
- JANUARY 1, 2002SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
According to recent government statistics, Singapore...
According to recent government statistics, Singapore has one of the highest execution rates in proportion to population in the world
- DECEMBER 5, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A man who claimed his offer of S$100,000 to a group...
A man who claimed his offer of S$100,000 to a group of four youths to kill his estranged wife was a joke was sentenced to hang for abetting her murder
- NOVEMBER 22, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Six death-row inmates have had their death sentences...
Six death-row inmates have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment since Singapore became independent in 1965
- NOVEMBER 19, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The High Court dismissed an appeal by a Thai national,...
The High Court dismissed an appeal by a Thai national, who was sentenced to death in August 2001, for the murder of a taxi driver
- OCTOBER 26, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A gunman and a drug trafficker were hanged
A gunman and a drug trafficker were hanged
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Possession of a gun outside a gun club carries the...
Possession of a gun outside a gun club carries the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Three men who stabbed cabby Koh Ngiap Yong, 42, to...
Three men who stabbed cabby Koh Ngiap Yong, 42, to death with a bayonet in August 2000 were sentenced to hang
- JULY 23, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death a Singaporean,...
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death a Singaporean, Tan Wan Kiang, 40, together with a Hong Kong citizen and another from Thailand
- MAY 31, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans...
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin out of the country and related charges
- APRIL 27, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A Singapore man was sentenced to death for trafficking...
A Singapore man was sentenced to death for trafficking two kilograms of cannabis
- APRIL 17, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Speaking at the UN Commission on Human Rights on item...
Speaking at the UN Commission on Human Rights on item 17, the promotion and protection of human rights, See Chak Mun said that since 1997 similar draft resolutions on the question of the death penalty had been submitted to the Commission calling for a mor
- FEBRUARY 22, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed...
A [unidentified] Singaporean national was executed in China in January for drug trafficking
- FEBRUARY 21, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Tay Chin Wah, 68, an elderly taxi driver who fired...
Tay Chin Wah, 68, an elderly taxi driver who fired four shots from his revolver at two men in 1995 was sentenced to hang
- FEBRUARY 16, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Singapore hanged 52 year old Julaiha Maniam along with...
Singapore hanged 52 year old Julaiha Maniam along with 2 younger men who had helped her to kill her husband, a retired police officer, so that she could then become the sole owner of their $1
- JANUARY 9, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Welder Saeng-Un Udom, 22, a Thai national was sentenced...
Welder Saeng-Un Udom, 22, a Thai national was sentenced by the High Court to hang for murdering Mr Weerasak Suebban, a fellow worker after an argument on June 23, 2000
- JANUARY 1, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against...
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against the President, illegal possession of arms, and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness
- JANUARY 1, 2001SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
To wage its war more effectively on drugs Singapore's...
To wage its war more effectively on drugs Singapore's highest court ruled that the act of helping dealers pack heroin into smaller sachets for sale is as bad as selling the drug
- DECEMBER 9, 2000SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Three Indonesian domestic workers facing the death...
Three Indonesian domestic workers facing the death penalty were saved from the gallows thanks to a long legal struggle conducted by the Indonesian embassy
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2000SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted murderers were hanged in Changi Prison
Three convicted murderers were hanged in Changi Prison
- JULY 28, 2000SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Two convicted drug traffickers, Sow Siow Yin, a 33...
Two convicted drug traffickers, Sow Siow Yin, a 33 year old Malaysian woman, and Tan Chwee Heng, 39, were executed at Changi Prison
- JULY 24, 2000SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
The Court of Appeal rejected the trio's appeals against...
The Court of Appeal rejected the trio's appeals against their death sentence