Singapore’s death row sits inside Changi Prison, and almost everyone held there was convicted of trafficking drugs above the weight limits in the Misuse of Drugs Act. Prisoners live alone in small cells, get roughly an hour outside each weekday, pass through a mandatory appeal and a clemency petition to the President, and — if neither succeeds — are hanged early on a Friday morning after about four to five days’ notice to their family.
Who Ends Up on Death Row
Four categories of crime can carry a death sentence in Singapore, but one of them accounts for the overwhelming majority of people on the row.
Drug trafficking is the dominant route. The Second Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act sets fixed weight thresholds that convert a serious drug offense into a capital charge: more than 15 grams of heroin (diamorphine), more than 30 grams of morphine, more than 1,200 grams of opium, or more than 500 grams of cannabis. The weights refer to the pure drug, not the total weight of whatever mixture it is found in.1Singapore Statutes Online. Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 – Second Schedule Cross any one threshold and the case becomes capital.
Murder is the second category. Section 300 of the Penal Code defines murder in four ways, but only the first — killing with a clear intention to cause death — carries a mandatory death sentence. The other three definitions, which cover reckless or extremely dangerous conduct, let a judge choose between death and life imprisonment with caning.2Singapore Statutes Online. Singapore Penal Code 1871 – Section 3003Singapore Statutes Online. Singapore Penal Code 1871 – Section 302
Firearms offenses carry mandatory death under the Arms Offences Act. Using or attempting to use a firearm triggers the sentence even if no one is hurt.4Singapore Statutes Online. Arms Offences Act 1973 – Section 4 An accomplice present when another person uses a gun during a crime faces the same penalty, unless they can prove they took all reasonable steps to prevent the use.5Singapore Statutes Online. Arms Offences Act 1973 – Section 5
Kidnapping for ransom rounds out the list. Abducting, wrongfully restraining, or wrongfully confining a person for ransom is a capital offense under the Kidnapping Act, with the sentence left to the court’s discretion between death and life imprisonment with caning.6Singapore Statutes Online. Kidnapping Act 1961 – Section 3
In practice, firearms and kidnapping cases rarely produce executions. Death row is populated almost entirely by drug cases.
When a Judge Has a Choice
Before 2012, every murder conviction and every drug trafficking conviction above the threshold meant an automatic death sentence. Amendments that year to the Penal Code and the Misuse of Drugs Act created limited judicial discretion.7Ministry of Law Singapore. Second Reading Speech by Minister for Law, Mr K Shanmugam, on the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill
The Courier Exception
Section 33B of the Misuse of Drugs Act offers a narrow escape for drug couriers. If a defendant’s role was limited to transporting, sending, or delivering drugs, a judge may substitute life imprisonment and at least 15 strokes of the cane for the death sentence. Two conditions apply. The involvement must not have gone further than moving the drugs. And either the Public Prosecutor must certify that the courier gave substantial assistance to the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting trafficking networks, or the court must find that the defendant was suffering from a mental abnormality that significantly impaired their responsibility.8Singapore Statutes Online. Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 – Section 33B
Between January 2013 and February 2022, courts found 104 people to be couriers in capital drug cases. The Public Prosecutor certified 82 as having given substantial assistance. The other 22 did not get that certificate.9Ministry of Home Affairs. Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Issuance of Certificates of Substantial Assistance under the Misuse of Drugs Act since 1 January 2013 The certificate decision rests entirely with the prosecution, and the courts have declined to review it.
Murder Under One of the Other Three Definitions
If a murder conviction falls under Section 300(a) — a deliberate, intentional killing — death remains mandatory. If it falls under one of the other three definitions, the court chooses between death and life imprisonment with caning.3Singapore Statutes Online. Singapore Penal Code 1871 – Section 302
Diminished Responsibility and Who Cannot Be Sentenced to Death
A defendant who proves, through psychiatric evidence, that a mental abnormality substantially impaired their understanding of their actions at the time of the offense may avoid the death penalty. The bar is high. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian national with an IQ of 69, was executed in 2022 for trafficking heroin after Singapore’s courts found that his intellectual disability did not meet the standard.
Three groups cannot be sentenced to death at all: people who were under 18 at the time of the crime, pregnant women, and people found to be of unsound mind. Pregnant women convicted of a capital offense are sentenced to life imprisonment instead.
Life Inside Changi While Awaiting Execution
Prisoners on death row at Changi are held in solitary confinement for about 23 hours a day. Cells are small, with a mat, a toilet, and a bucket. On weekdays that are not public holidays, prisoners get roughly an hour of yard time, but mesh dividers keep them out of visual contact with each other even then.
Visits are restricted to immediate family and legal counsel, take place in a monitored room, and do not allow physical contact. In the days immediately before an execution, prisoners are given additional privileges, including television or radio access, and may request meals of their choosing.
Every prisoner facing a capital charge has access to legal counsel, including through the Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences for those who cannot afford a lawyer. The Singapore government cites this when responding to international criticism.
Time on death row varies widely. Some prisoners are executed within a year or two of sentencing. Others remain for ten years or more while pursuing appeals, applications to reopen their cases, and clemency. Singapore does not publish official figures on the average duration.
The Mandatory Appeal
Every death sentence is reviewed by the Court of Appeal, whether or not the condemned person files an appeal. Section 394A of the Criminal Procedure Code requires the Public Prosecutor, when a defendant sentenced to death does not appeal within the allowed time, to lodge a petition for confirmation within 90 days. That forces appellate review of the case.10Singapore Statutes Online. Criminal Procedure Code 2010 – Section 394A
The Court of Appeal examines the trial record to confirm the correctness and legality of both the conviction and the sentence before execution can proceed.11Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Singapore Submission on the Question of the Death Penalty Defense counsel can try to introduce new evidence, but the standard is strict: generally the evidence must have been unavailable at trial and capable of significantly changing the outcome.
Once the Court of Appeal rules, the judicial process is treated as final. Reopening a concluded appeal is rare. The court has recognized a narrow power to review a closed case to correct a clear miscarriage of justice, but has used it sparingly.
Clemency From the President
When all court proceedings are exhausted, the last option is a petition for clemency to the President under Article 22P of the Constitution. The President may grant a pardon, commute the sentence, or offer a reprieve — but only on the advice of the Cabinet.12Singapore Statutes Online. Constitution of the Republic of Singapore – Article 22P The trial judge and the presiding appellate judge each write a report on the case. Those reports go to the Attorney-General for an opinion, and the full package goes to the Cabinet, which makes the recommendation the President follows in practice.
The petition itself is normally prepared by the prisoner’s lawyers. It commonly covers personal history, remorse, rehabilitation in custody, and humanitarian factors such as family circumstances, often supported by character references and any medical or psychological evidence that was not central at trial. Clemency has been granted in Singapore’s history, but it is rare in capital cases, and the government does not publish statistics on how often.
The Final Week and the Execution
Once clemency is denied and the death warrant is signed, the prison superintendent informs the prisoner in person of the execution date. A separate letter goes to the next of kin with the same information, visit arrangements, and prison officer contacts.13Central Narcotics Bureau. Execution of Two Convicted Drug Traffickers – 27 November 2025 Executions are carried out on Fridays, and families are typically notified on the Monday of that week, which leaves roughly four to five days.
Under a program introduced in the 1990s, prisoners may choose to have a photo shoot before the execution. Participation is voluntary. Family members can supply civilian clothes, or the prison provides them. The photographs are given to the family shortly before or after the execution.
The execution itself is carried out by long-drop hanging in the early morning hours at Changi Prison. The Prison Act and Prison Regulations do not formally specify hanging as the method, but it has been the consistent practice since the colonial era. A coroner certifies the death, and the body is released to the family for private burial or cremation.
Foreign Nationals
Singapore’s death penalty laws apply the same to citizens and foreigners. Nationality alone brings no mitigation and no special protection. Many of those executed are Malaysian citizens, and nationals of other countries have also been put to death.
Singapore ratified the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in 2005. The Ministry of Home Affairs says detained foreign nationals are told of their right to consular notification on arrest, and if they request access, Singapore informs the relevant embassy.
What embassies can do is limited. The U.S. Embassy in Singapore, for example, states that its consular officers cannot interfere in the local judicial process, give legal advice, pay legal fees, or hire a lawyer for a citizen. They can visit the detainee, monitor treatment and health, help with communication with family, pass on money and personal items from relatives, and follow the case.14U.S. Embassy in Singapore. Legal Assistance Other embassies offer broadly similar services, with the exact scope varying by country.
How Often Executions Are Happening Now
Singapore’s execution rate rose sharply after the government resumed hangings in 2022, following a pandemic-era pause. In 2024, the country carried out at least nine executions, nearly all for drug offenses. In 2025, 17 people were executed, 15 of them for drug trafficking.15Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Singapore – Turk Alarmed by Increase in Drug-Related Executions, Calls for Moratorium Executions have continued into 2026. Murder cases leading to execution are far less common, and firearms executions rarer still in a country with very low gun crime.
The Ongoing Dispute Over the Law
UN human rights experts have said drug offenses do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” under international law, which they treat as crimes involving intentional killing. They have argued that mandatory death sentences for drug trafficking remove the ability to consider individual circumstances and amount to an arbitrary deprivation of life.16Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Singapore – UN Experts Condemn Continued Use of Death Penalty for Drug-Related Crimes They have also raised concerns about discriminatory treatment of ethnic minorities in capital cases and about reprisals against lawyers who take on death penalty work.
Singapore’s government has rejected these arguments. Officials have said the death penalty is not prohibited under international law, that there is no global consensus against it, and that strict enforcement is a central reason the country has very low rates of violent crime and drug abuse. They point to mandatory appellate review, access to counsel, and the 2012 sentencing reforms as evidence of a fair process.11Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Singapore Submission on the Question of the Death Penalty