This is a rise from the 66 percent recorded in 2021, Shanmugam said, adding that the ministry will release the complete report of the newest survey later this yr.
Nearly 77% of respondents agreed that the death penalty needs to be used for essentially the most serious crimes resembling murder and drug trafficking – up from almost 74% two years ago.
The overwhelming majority of Singaporeans know and understand the facts and reality and why the federal government says the death penalty is essential
He also pointed to last yr’s survey by the National Council for the Prevention of Drug Addiction, by which almost 91 percent of respondents expressed support for the country’s drug-free approach.
Eighty-seven percent agreed that Singapore’s drug laws are effective in keeping the country relatively drug-free.
Beyond Singapore, Shanmugam pointed to a 2021 survey conducted in parts of the region where many of the country’s drug traffickers arrested lately have come from.
It found that 87 per cent of respondents believed the death penalty deterred people from smuggling significant amounts of medication into Singapore.
An analogous percentage – 86 percent. – believes the death penalty makes people reluctant to commit serious crimes in Singapore.
Of the respondents, 83 percent also believed that the death penalty was simpler than life imprisonment in discouraging people from bringing in drugs.
“Therefore, those who suggest that the death penalty could be replaced by life imprisonment should look at these numbers. The deterrent effects of these two penalties are very different,” Shanmugam said.
“It is not easy for us (…) to decide to apply the death penalty as part of the penalties provided for by law. “But the evidence shows that it is necessary to protect our nation, to prevent the destruction of thousands of families and the loss of thousands of lives,” he said.
Shanmugam said the high level of support was on account of Singaporeans’ trust in the federal government to do the precise thing and that Singapore would do the precise thing.
“The overwhelming majority of Singaporeans know and understand the facts and reality and why the federal government says the death penalty is essential,” Shanmugam said.
In his speech, Shanmugam described anti-death penalty activists as making “baseless allegations, one-sided claims and half-truths.”
Shanmugam said the five parties – The Transformative Justice Collective, The Online Citizen Asia, Andrew Loh, Kirsten Han, M. Ravi – continued to falsely claim that Tangaraju was denied an interpreter while recording his statement.
“This is despite the clear position of the courts to the contrary. “A blatant and false attack on the criminal justice system,” he said.
Shanmugam said some activists had also filed “unmeritorious” legal applications on behalf of convicted drug traffickers, often on the last minute.
In one case, seven applications were submitted after appeal, all of which were dismissed by the courts as unfounded, he added.
Shanmugam said the newest application included a mailing address belonging to an anti-death penalty activist.
The court dismissed the request as “a blatant and ill-disguised request geared toward disrupting the execution of the sentence,” it said.
In November 2022, the Singapore Parliament passed the Capital Appeal Applications Act to supply a transparent process for the consideration of such applications.
Shanmugam said he expected the bill to come back into force soon. It will seek to guard the administration of justice and the rule of law by introducing recent requirements to cut back potential delays in proceedings, he said.
“We are currently considering what more must be done to be sure that this recent laws is correctly supported. If essential, we are going to return to the House,” he added.
“I have the desire to make it clear to members and Singaporeans that we are going to take all essential steps to be sure that such abuses of process are handled.”
