Bangladeshi Man Executed For Murder An Singapore

A Bangladeshi man was executed on February 28th for murdering his ex-fiancee at a budget hotel in Geylang, Singapore, in 2018.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) confirmed the hanging of Ahmed Salim, aged 35, who had sought clemency from the president but was unsuccessful, according to reports from straitstimes.com.

This marks the first time a death sentence for murder has been carried out in the Republic since 2019, as per a Singapore Prison Service (SPS) spokesperson who responded to inquiries from The Straits Times on February 28th. It's also the first execution of 2024.

Ahmed, a painter, strangled Indonesian domestic worker Nurhidayati Wartono Surata in a room at the Golden Dragon Hotel on the evening of December 30th, 2018, after she declined to end her relationship with another man.

He was charged with murder on January 2nd, 2019, and was sentenced to death on December 14th, 2020. His appeal against the conviction was rejected on January 19th, 2022.

The SPF stressed that Ahmed was afforded full legal process and had access to legal representation throughout.

According to SPS data, the last person to be executed for murder was in 2019, with a total of two such judicial executions taking place. There were four executions that year.

No executions occurred in 2020 and 2021, with the SPS clarifying that this was unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. They explained that execution is scheduled only after all relevant legal processes and applications are resolved.

In recent years, several murder charges have been downgraded to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, including the case of a teenager who killed a fellow student in 2021, receiving a 16-year jail sentence in December 2023. In another case, Xavier Yap Jung Houn was jailed for 14 years in August 2023 for strangling his 11-year-old twins in 2022.

During Ahmed's trial, it was revealed that he and Nurhidayati had started a relationship in May 2012 and planned to marry in December 2018, but Nurhidayati had an affair with another man. They reconciled later but quarreled over her infidelity, which led to the fatal incident.

Ahmed's defense argued that his adjustment disorder impacted his mental responsibility, advocating for a life sentence instead of the death penalty. However, the court ruled that Ahmed was aware of the wrongfulness of his actions and rejected the defense's plea.

Ahmed was represented by a team of lawyers, including Mr. Eugene Thuraisingam, Mr. Chooi Jing Yen, and Mr. Hamza Malik, who had been fighting for him since 2012.

Mr. Thuraisingam stated that they had exhausted all arguments for Ahmed, but they must respect the legal process as it stands.

Overall, the case underscores the complex legal and emotional landscape surrounding capital punishment in Singapore.