alan shadrake

"This book exposes many cases where vulnerable young people, in all kinds of desperate situations, have committed crimes through fear and threats of death from drug syndicates . . . In several cases I have investigated in Singapore, narcotics police, using well-paid informants, have helped 'load' the evidence in sting operations involving minor marijuana smugglers to ensure they end up on the gallows. In another case, a young man of 21 was hanged on the questionable evidence of a Central Narcotics Bureau officer who was later jailed for 15 months for corruption in another case. This case alone is a sound and compelling argument to abolish the death penalty in Singapore."

Reading this book I realised the argument around the death is goes beyond the question of punishment. The problem of drugs is a huge and systemic, it won't go away with killing drug mules. It is terrifying how people who were probably innocent have been hanged just to maintain this legal stance. While we hang low level mules, Singapore invests heavily in the country with the highest heroin production in the world. If they cared about ending the war on drugs, there are big steps they could take that would be more effective, but they are not doing it. Please read the excerpts I've pictured, I was so disturbed and angry. If we want to hang someone, the system better be perfect, but it's not.

The Changi prison motto is "rehab renew restart". Yet there is also death penalty, a decision that is irrevocable. Singapore often uses the excuse that we're not like the "West", yet our death penalty was a British law that was retained. We even use a British method of hanging (Table of drops method).

Alan Shadrake interviewed Singapore's hangman, who technically isn't allowed to speak about his job due to the Official Secrets Act. I was aware the book isn't perfect, needed better editing, and interviewees were not always named, but that's because there is so little transparency in the system. Journalists have a very difficult time trying to report it. He was jailed for 5 weeks for "scandalising the judiciary" for this book.
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