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
- OCTOBER 31, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. VIETNAMESE LEADER PLEADS TO STOP HANGING OF NGUYEN TUONG VAN
the state of Victoria’s most senior Vietnamese leader called on Australian Prime Minister John Howard to state unequivocally that Melbourne's Nguyen Tuong Van should not hang in Singapore.
- OCTOBER 31, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENT PLEADS FOR LIFE OF NGUYEN TUONG VAN ON DEATH ROW IN SINGAPORE
Australia's parliament passed a motion calling on Singapore not to hang Nguyen Tuong Van, a 25 year old Australian convicted of drug trafficking, but Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he would not jeopardise relations with the city state over the iss
- OCTOBER 28, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. NGUYEN CLEMENCY 'A POLITICAL PROBLEM', MINISTER
Australians have to respect Singapore's decision to execute Van Tuong Nguyen, a Melbourne man convicted of heroin trafficking, federal Human Services Minister Joe Hockey said.
- OCTOBER 28, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. EXECUTIONER WANTS OUT BUT CAN'T FIND REPLACEMENT
it was reported that Singapore's chief executioner Darshan Singh, the man due to execute convicted Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, was a 73-year-old grandfather who could not retire because no-one would take his job.
- OCTOBER 27, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT BACKBENCHER TUCKEY FIRM ON DRUG-SMUGGLER
government backbencher Wilson Tuckey said an Australian drug-smuggler on death row should not be spared execution for his crime.
- OCTOBER 26, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. WORLDWIDE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE DRUG MULE ON DEATH ROW ON SINGAPORE
Amnesty International launched a worldwide campaign to save Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian heroin smuggler condemned to hang in Singapore.
- OCTOBER 26, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGES SINGAPORE TO HALT NGUYEN'S EXECUTION
the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urged the Singapore government not to execute Nguyen Tuong Van, a 25-year-old convicted Australian drug runner sentenced to hang for heroin smuggling.
- OCTOBER 24, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. CANBERRA STEPS UP LAST-MINUTE APPEALS TO SINGAPORE OVER NATIONAL ON DEATH ROW
Canberra issued a forceful last-minute appeal to Singapore to spare the life of Nguyen Tyong Van, a condemned Australian drug smuggler, after the island state ignored repeated pleas for clemency from Australia's top leaders.
- OCTOBER 23, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. NO HOPE FOR AUSTRALIAN FACING EXECUTION IN SINGAPORE: PM
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said there was no realistic hope that Nguyen Tuong Van, a 25-year-old Australian drug-runner, could be saved from execution in Singapore.
- OCTOBER 21, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CALLS FOR MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY
Think Centre, a Singapore civil rights group, called for a moratorium on executions after Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van lost his final clemency appeal.
- OCTOBER 21, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. AUSTRALIAN TO BE EXECUTED FOR HEROIN SMUGGLING
Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian man convicted of drugs charges in Singapore lost his final appeal for clemency and was due for execution, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. BRITON TO BE SENT BACK TO SINGAPORE FOR MURDER TRIAL
Australia was to extradite British businessman Michael McCrea to Singapore to face trial for a double murder after Australia's highest court rejected his bid to avoid being handed over. McCrea, 46, was accused of murdering his driver and his driver's girl
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. 24 FILIPINOS FACE DEATH PENALTY IN SAUDI, SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA
twenty-four Filipino workers were facing the death penalty for murder and drug-related cases, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
- AUGUST 30, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. BRITON WANTED FOR MURDER IN SINGAPORE CLOSER TO EXTRADITION
Michael McCrea, a British businessman accused of a double murder in Singapore, lost another round in a three-year fight to avoid extradition from Australia on the grounds that he could be executed.
- AUGUST 26, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. MALAYSIAN MAN SENTENCED TO HANG FOR CHINESE GIRL'S MURDER
Took Leng How, a 23-year-old Malaysian man, was sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of murdering an eight-year-old mainland Chinese girl in Singapore. Judge Lai Kew Chai in his verdict said the prosecution had proven its case that Took,
- JULY 22, 2005NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. TWO TO HANG ON HEROIN CHARGE
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, a 19 year old Nigerian national and Okeke Nelson Malachy, 33, were sentenced to death after a 13-day trial for importing approximately $1.5 million worth of high-grade heroin into Singapore.
- MAY 13, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. MAN EXECUTED FOR TRAFFICKING MARIJUANA DESPITE HIGH-PROFILE CAMPAIGN
Shanmugam Murugesu, a man convicted of drug trafficking at the centre of a high-profile campaign to end the death penalty in Singapore, was executed despite the appeals of his teenage twin sons and his lawyer's pleas that it was a denial of "natural justi
- MAY 9, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. ‘LET JUDGES DECIDE DEATH SENTENCE’, FORMER JUDICIAL COMMISSIONER
K.S. Rajah, a former judicial commissioner, called for a review of sentencing in cases in Singapore where the death penalty was compulsory. Rajah, now a senior counsel, wanted judges to be given the discretion to impose a life jail term where it was deeme
- MAY 9, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. LAWYER TO CALL ON UN TO HELP SAVE DEATH ROW INMATE
lawyer M. Ravi said he would appeal to the United Nations in a last-ditch attempt to save his client Shanmugam Murugesu from being executed in Singapore for drug smuggling.
- MAY 6, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. COUNTRY FINALLY FINDS A VOICE IN DEATH ROW PROTEST, EDITORIAL
the Canton meeting room at Singapore's drab Furama Hotel was an unlikely venue for history to be made. But this bland setting hosted an unprecedented event for the tightly controlled island republic.
- APRIL 22, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. GOVERNMENT REJECTS CLEMENCY FOR MAN ON DEATH ROW
Singapore's president rejected an appeal by the teenage children of Shanmugam Murugesu, a 38-year-old man on death row, saying he would not receive clemency and underlining the country's tough stand on drugs trafficking.
- APRIL 17, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. AMNESTY URGES HALT TO EXECUTIONS
Amnesty International appealed for Singapore's Government to declare a moratorium on executions.
- APRIL 15, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. GOVERNMENT DENIES AMNESTY ACTIVIST CHANCE TO SPEAK AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
Singapore refused to allow an official from Amnesty International to speak at a forum on the death penalty.
- APRIL 14, 2005IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. GOVERNMENT URGED TO SAVE TWO WOMEN FROM GALLOWS IN SINGAPORE
Chairman of the North Sumatra Provincial Legislative Assembly (DPRD) Muhammad Nuh asked the Indonesian government to immediately save two Indonesian migrant workers in Singapore, Siti Aminah and Juminem, who were on death row for having murdered their bos
- APRIL 8, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
according to Mr Shanmugam Murugesu...
according to Mr Shanmugam Murugesu...
- FEBRUARY 25, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Khor Kok Soon was sentenced to death in Singapore
Khor Kok Soon was sentenced to death in Singapore
- FEBRUARY 1, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Singapore's premier said he would consider a bid for clemency from Australia
Singapore's premier said he would consider a bid for clemency from Australia
- JANUARY 1, 2005SingaporeDEATH 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.
- OCTOBER 21, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International and the Australian government...
Amnesty International and the Australian government urged Singapore to spare the life of Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian man sentenced to hang for heroin trafficking
- OCTOBER 20, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old...
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin found guilty of smuggling 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin while in transit at the island's main airport