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
AUGUST 6, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: ANOTHER DOUBLE DAWN HANGING CARRIED OUT
Two more death row inmates were hanged at dawn on 5 August 2022 for drug trafficking in a double execution at Singapore's Changi Prison, after the inmates waited 10 hours until past midnight to learn if their appeal in court would succeed.
JULY 26, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MAN EXECUTED FOR TRAFFICKING CANNABIS
Singapore hanged a 49-year-old man on 26 July 2022 for trafficking cannabis, the sixth execution in four months in the city-state.
- JULY 24, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: FIFTH EXECUTION IN UNDER FOUR MONTHS CARRIED OUT
Nazeri bin Lajim, who was convicted of drug trafficking five years ago, has been hanged in Singapore’s Changi Prison.
JULY 7, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: TWO DRUG TRAFFICKERS HANGED DESPITE OPPOSITION
Two drug traffickers were hanged in Singapore on 7 July 2022, bringing the number of executions this year in the city-state to four despite growing calls to abolish its death penalty.
- MAY 1, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN NAGAENTHRAN EXECUTED ON DRUGS CHARGES
Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with learning disabilities who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010 and whose case attracted global attention, has been executed in Singapore’s Changi prison.
MARCH 30, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: DRUG TRAFFICKER HANGED IN RESUMPTION OF EXECUTIONS
A Singaporean man on death row for drug trafficking was hanged on 30 March 2022 in the first execution in the city-state in over two years, rights activists said.
MARCH 16, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: COURT REJECTS APPEALS BY THREE MEN ON DEATH ROW
A Singapore court on 16 March 2022 rejected appeals by three men sentenced to death for drugs offences despite criticism from the United Nations and rights campaigners.
- MARCH 6, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: MAJORITY OF RESIDENTS STILL SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY IN LATEST MHA SURVEY
The majority of Singapore residents still support the death penalty, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on 3 March 2022, citing preliminary findings from a survey conducted last year.
FEBRUARY 8, 2022SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN WHO DELIVERED BAG OF HEROIN GIVEN DEATH PENALTY, S'POREAN RECIPIENT GETS LIFE TERM
A Malaysian who rode his motorcycle into Singapore to deliver a bag containing more than 900g of a powdery substance was sentenced to death on 4 February 2022 for drug trafficking.
DECEMBER 6, 2021SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: APEX COURT DISMISSES APPEAL BY MALAYSIAN DRUG MULE
Malaysian drug mule Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, 34, who was granted a stay of execution two years ago in Singapore, failed in his appeal on 26 November 2021 to start a court challenge against his death sentence.
DECEMBER 1, 2021SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF TWO INDIAN-ORIGIN MEN CONVICTED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING
Singapore’s highest court on 26 November 2021 upheld the death sentence of two Indian-origin men, who had been convicted of conspiring to traffic at least 1.34 kg of cannabis in March 2016, The Straits Times reported.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2021SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: SECOND MALAYSIAN-INDIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A 39-year-old Indian origin Malaysian who was caught with a bag of drugs in 2018 was sentenced to death on 17 November 2021 by a Singapore court for trafficking.
- NOVEMBER 9, 2021SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE SUSPENDS DISABLED MALAYSIAN’S EXECUTION AMID PLEAS
Singapore’s High Court on 8 November 2021 suspended the scheduled execution of a Malaysian man believed to be mentally disabled until an appeal is heard, amid pleas from the international community and rights groups.
- OCTOBER 13, 2021SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: MAN TO BE HANGED FOR BRINGING 1 KILOGRAM OF CANNABIS
Singapore's highest court on 12 October 2021 denied an appeal against a man's conviction and death sentence for allegedly smuggling cannabis weighing at least 1kg into the city-state from neighbouring Malaysia.
APRIL 19, 2021MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: NGO RELEASES SONG PENNED BY MALAYSIAN DEATH ROW INMATE TO SPREAD AWARENESS
A new Malaysian NGO, Sebaran Kasih has embarked on producing a song written by an inmate, Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who is in the Changi Prison in Singapore awaiting execution, the New Straits Times reported on 17 April 2021.
- FEBRUARY 1, 2021AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA WON’T EXTRADITE S’PORE-BORN MURDER SUSPECT IF DEATH PENALTY AWAITS HIM
A man born in Singapore wanted in relation to a murder case nearly four decades ago is in jail in Australia, but the country’s Attorney-General’s Department has said he cannot be extradited if he faces the death penalty.
- DECEMBER 16, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: BANGLADESHI WORKER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING INDONESIAN MAID GIRLFRIEND IN GEYLANG HOTEL
A Bangladeshi worker was sentenced to death on 14 December 2020 in Singapore for murdering his domestic helper girlfriend in a Geylang hotel two years ago.
NOVEMBER 15, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING PREGNANT WIFE, DAUGHTER
A former property agent was sentenced to death on 12 November 2020 after he was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife and their four-year-old daughter.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: MAN WHO ESCAPED THE GALLOWS FOR KILLING CNB OFFICER GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A 61-year-old man on 2 November 2020 was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in Singapore for trafficking in at least 78.77g of heroin, almost three decades after escaping the hangman’s noose for killing a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officer.
OCTOBER 22, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: COURT OF APPEAL DISMISSES APPLICATION BY DRUG TRAFFICKER ON DEATH ROW
The Court of Appeal of Singapore on 16 October 2020 dismissed an application by a drug trafficker on death row for a review of his case, reminding defence counsels not to invoke the review process lightly and without reasonable basis or they will face san
OCTOBER 20, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN MAN ESCAPES HANGING AFTER BEING ACQUITTED ON DRUG CHARGE BY COURT OF APPEAL
A 38-year-old Malaysian man escaped the noose when he was acquitted by the Court of Appeal on 13 October 2020 of a charge of being a drug courier.
OCTOBER 19, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN ESCAPES GALLOWS AFTER COURT OF APPEAL REVERSES DEATH SENTENCE
Singapore’s Court of Appeal on 19 October 2020 set aside a previous death sentence it meted out to Gobi Avedian, a Malaysian who was convicted of drug trafficking.
OCTOBER 11, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS SHANMUGAM, ‘DEATH PENALTY IS A DETERRENT’
Statistics and studies over the years show the death penalty has had a deterrent effect on some serious crimes in Singapore, said Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam on 5 October 2020.
- MAY 20, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE SLAMMED FOR 'CRUEL' ZOOM DEATH SENTENCE
Singapore was criticised for being "cruel and inhumane" on 20 May 2020 after a death sentence was handed down via video-conferencing platform Zoom.
- MAY 18, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: DRUG OFFENDER GETS DEATH SENTENCE VIA REMOTE HEARING
A Malaysian debt collector, who was implicated by two drug couriers as the mastermind behind a heroin transaction, was sentenced to hang in Singapore on 15 May 2020.
APRIL 23, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MAN ESCAPES GALLOWS AFTER BEING CLEARED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGE BY COURT OF APPEAL
A 27-year-old man who was originally handed the death penalty in Singapore for driving his friend to pick up drugs, escaped the gallows on 23 April 2020 after he was cleared by the Court of Appeal.
- APRIL 6, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: COURT OF APPEAL ACQUITS CONVICT ON DEATH ROW OF TWO CAPITAL DRUG CHARGES
Singapore's Court of Appeal on 31 March 2020 acquitted a convicted drug trafficker on death row of two capital drug charges and sentenced him to eight years' jail instead for drug possession.
- MARCH 17, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING; HIS BROTHER GETS LIFE IMPRISONMENT
A man was sentenced to hang on 21 February 2020 by the Singapore High Court on drug-related charges, while in the same case his brother was sentenced to life in prison.
- JANUARY 1, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offences against the President, illegal possession of arms, kidnapping and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness.
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offences against the President, illegal possession of arms, kidnapping and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness.
NOVEMBER 25, 2019SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A Malaysian, Abd Helmi Ab Halim, on 22 November 2019 was hanged at Changi Prison after having been convicted of drug trafficking in 2017.