Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad’s father, residing in a remote area of Iran, received the devastating news he had long feared – his son was to be hanged in Singapore’s Changi Prison. With deteriorating health and only a week until the scheduled execution on November 29, he was unable to make the journey to see his son for the last time in person. A long-distance phone call served as the final contact between father and son. Despite a final legal challenge, Masoud was hanged on the last Friday of November, over 14 years after his initial arrest for drug offenses. Masoud, at the age of 35, became the ninth person to be executed in Singapore that year. Human Rights Watch’s Bryony Lau criticized the Singaporean government’s continued use of the death penalty, with four executions in November alone. Despite opposition from human rights groups and UN experts, Singapore maintains that capital punishment is an effective deterrent against drug trafficking. Activists continue to rally against the death penalty in Singapore, sharing the personal stories of death row inmates. The recent surge in executions has left activists shaken, with many feeling deeply affected by the loss of lives. Masoud’s case, like many others in Singapore, involved drug offenses that led to his death sentence. Despite his efforts to appeal and seek clemency, Masoud’s execution proceeded as planned. The Singapore Prison Service and the Attorney General’s Chambers were found to have acted unlawfully in disclosing private letters of prisoners, including Masoud. The recent increase in executions in Singapore has raised concerns among anti-death penalty campaigners, who face challenges from government authorities under the fake news law. Despite the risks, activists like Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective vow to continue their fight against capital punishment in Singapore.
