(Reuters) - Singapore's deputy prime minister on Monday said the country plans to ease its mandatory death penalty in some drug and murder cases but not abolish the ultimate punishment that human rights groups condemn as barbaric.
The wealthy Southeast Asian city-state, which has a zero-tolerance policy for illegal drugs and imposes long jail terms on convicted users, has hanged hundreds of people - including dozens of foreigners - for narcotics offences in the last two decades, Amnesty International and other groups say.
That approach prompted science fiction writer William Gibson to describe Singapore as "Disneyland with the death penalty". Full story
Related:
Singapore scraps mandatory death penalty for drug couriers - The Guardian
Mandatory death penalty to be eased conditionally: DPM Teo - Yahoo! News Singapore
Singapore to end mandatory death for drug couriers - Asian Correspondent
Death no longer mandatory for drugs in Singapore - The Malaysian Insider
Singapore to relax, but not remove, death penalty - The Malaysian Insider
Singapore to ease capital punishment - Australia Network News
