Brutal executions - S'pore dismisses LFL's claims as 'baseless falsehoods'

The Singapore government has come out to refute claims by legal activists Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) that unlawful methods were employed in judicial executions conducted in Changi Prison.

It claimed that LFL's allegations contained "false statements of fact". 

"LFL's allegation that the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) applies the alleged procedure for judicial executions is completely baseless.

"SPS does not apply the procedure as alleged by LFL for judicial executions. No effort is spared to ensure that all judicial executions in Singapore are carried out in strict compliance with the law," said the statement on www.gov.sg, self-described as the official online communication platform and repository of the Singapore government.

The statement was a direct response to LFL adviser N Surendran, who claimed that among the practices in Changi Prison included kicks to snap prisoners’ necks in the event of the rope breaking during a hanging.

Surendran alleged that this information was disclosed to LFL by an SPS officer who had served at the execution chamber in Changi Prison and who had himself carried out hangings.

The officer, Surendran (below) said, was prepared to testify as such in an appropriate forum.

Denying these claims, Singapore said all judicial executions are conducted in the presence of the prison superintendent and a medical doctor while its law requires a coroner to conduct an inquiry within 24 hours of the execution to satisfy himself that the execution was carried out duly and properly.

"For the record, the rope used for judicial executions has never broken before. This fact alone shows the falsity of LFL's allegations.

"LFL also made spurious allegations that prison officers were 'given special training to carry out the brutal execution method', that the Singapore government approved of these 'unlawful methods', and suggested that specific measures were adopted to cover up these methods. These allegations are entirely unfounded," it said.

Singapore claimed that LFL's statement was the latest scurrilous allegations of misconduct that followed what it called "a series of sensational and untrue stories" previously published by LFL.

"LFL has been publishing various falsehoods to seek attention in hopes of getting Malaysian prisoners, who have been convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death in Singapore, off the death penalty," it said.