Putting the Death Penalty on Trial: World Day 2024

Get ready for the trial of the century, which promises to make your blood run cold. The crimes of the accused - a serial killer - are unparalleled. This barbaric criminal has committed over 500 premeditated, brutal murders in just the last 30 years. The exact number of victims is unknown, and the earliest murders date back to 1961.

The killer’s modus operandi is to trap victims in solitary cages for years before hanging them to death. During the years of their confinement, select family members of the victim are allowed to visit them once a week, for around 45 minutes, through a glass panel. A few days before their M**der, the victim’s family is given a printed notice of their execution. In the last days before they are killed, the victim has extended visits with their family members. The killer also arranges for religious counsellors to visit and mentally prepare the victims for their execution. 

The killer does a photoshoot of their victims before their M**der, and gives them to the victim’s family after they are killed. Family members are asked to buy clothes to dress the victim for this picture-taking session. 

The murders typically take place at dawn, and family members are asked to collect the victim’s body afterwards. In recent years, however, the killer’s patterns have become more erratic, and murders sometimes take place at later times of the day. 

The killer’s barbaric acts are no secret to the public, many of whom are raised to believe that these murders are necessary to keep our society safe. For long years, people have been afraid to challenge the killer, even if they are troubled by the murders. Those who question the killer’s actions have been punished, taunted and at times, forced into silence. The victims have stood together courageously and fought a long and hard battle for their lives, but the killer rages on, unabated. 

Now, in an attempt to save the lives of the over 50 victims who are currently trapped in the killer’s den, and the countless others whose lives will be taken in the years to come, the victims’ families and other witnesses have decided to come forward and put the killer on trial. They draw strength from how similar killers have been stopped in other countries. The global movement to stop such killers - World Day Against the Death Penalty - is commemorated on 10th October each year. This is the day our public trials will begin. 

It is urgent that we confront this dangerous criminal, and their horrific acts. Loved ones of the victims will testify about the devastating impacts these abductions and murders have had on them. Experts who have studied this serial killer’s patterns for years will also take the witness stand to share their testimonies.   

For this trial to bring justice, the people of Singapore must come and bear witness, consider the evidence and arguments presented, awaken their collective conscience, and deliver their verdict.

Trial dates: 10-20 Oct 2024

Court: UltraSuperNew Gallery, 168 Tyrwhitt Rd, Singapore 207572

Additional Zoom hearings will be held on 11, 16 and 18 Oct to allow overseas witnesses to provide their testimonies. 

10 - 20 Oct

Open on weekdays from 5pm-10pm, and on weekends from 10am-7pm

Gallery tours: Weekdays at 8-8.30pm; Weekends at 11-11.30am and 3-3.30pm

Transformative Justice Collective presents Fighting for Life, an exhibition that critically examines the death penalty in Singapore, highlighting its complexities, societal harms, and injustices. The exhibition challenges common justifications for the death penalty—such as deterrence, safety, and harm prevention—by revealing the system's inconsistencies, biases, and impact on vulnerable individuals. Through photography, film and audio stories, it shares the experiences of those most impacted by capital punishment, questioning who the true victims are. The exhibition also explores alternative approaches that improve health, human rights, community safety, harm reduction, and autonomy, encouraging the public to envision more just paths forward.

(Pending IMDA Approval)

10 Oct

7-10pm

We open the trial of the death penalty with Victim Impact Statements from persons on death row, their family members, friends, lawyers and ordinary people in Singapore who have been deeply affected by the cruelties of state M**der. After the readings, there will be an open mic segment where participants can share their responses and reflections.

About Victim Impact Statements:

In court proceedings around the world, Victim Impact Statements are written or oral statements that give victims of violence the opportunity to speak during the sentencing stage of a trial. When those who are most directly affected by violence address the court, it humanises and elevates the status of the victim. Being able to speak to the harms they have suffered and have them borne witness to by the court and the public, as well having the opportunity to confront those who committed violence against them can be a valuable part of the victims’ own journey. Another purpose of the statement is so that the court can regard the harm suffered by the victim in deciding the sentence. In cases of acts resulting in death, the right to speak is extended to family members too.

12, 13, 19 Oct

2-4pm

Transformative Justice Collective brings you Condemned, a short film documenting the story of Don, who spent years on death row at Changi Pr*son before being acquitted and walking free in May 2022. Screened for the first time at TJFest 2023 to full-house audiences, Don's story gives us rare insight into the trauma, isolation and dehumanisation experienced by those entangled in Singapore’s war on drugs.

Following the film screening, audio recordings of letters written by death row prisoners Kalwant, Pannir, and Datch will be collectively experienced. Through bearing witness to their intimate expressions, we seek to affirm death row prisoners' nuanced humanity and inherent right to life. In closing, we will interrogate the war on drugs and the death penalty that have claimed the lives of so many through reflective discussions in small groups.

(Pending IMDA approval)

20 Oct

4-7pm

The life vests are coming off for prisoners on death row. We urgently need to come together to build a boat to safeguard their lives. Executions slowed down this year due to the cases brought by death row prisoners on a series of constitutional, criminal and civil issues. Most of these cases have now been thrown out by the courts. Once the remaining cases are decided, most of these prisoners face imminent risk of execution. With recent changes to the law, it has become much harder for death row prisoners to bring their appeals before the court, or to be allowed to live to see through these proceedings. The prisoners are nearing the end of the road when it comes to the legal battle, having exhausted all the means available to them. These prisoners include Pannir Selvam and Syed Suhail, who have fought long and hard to give voice to the plight of death row prisoners and the gross injustices of the death penalty. They have gone above and beyond in their struggle for justice, for life, and for each other. The only thing that can protect the lives of the 53 people currently on death row is an immediate moratorium on the death penalty. And for this, they depend on us, their fellow people, beyond the bars of Changi Pr*son. They are handing over the baton to us. How can we come together to win a moratorium?

The campaign to save Nagaenthran’s life in 2022 awakened many people in Singapore to the cruelties of the death penalty and changed their minds. We must build on this groundswell - a moratorium is possible if a critical mass of Singaporeans demand for this killing in our names to stop. TJC’s target is to collect 100,000 signatures for The People’s Petition for Moratorium within the next few months. This could exert enough pressure for Parliament to discuss the need for a moratorium. We can only achieve this goal if more of us can participate in the petition drive and help collect signatures in the coming months.

To this end, we wrap our series of events for World Day Against the Death Penalty with a discussion on how to turn up the heat and bring the movement forward together. We will be launching our new Anti-Death Penalty Advocate’s Guide at this event, and you can take home your own physical copy. We will also be exchanging strategies and ideas for amping up the petition drive. As we forge the path ahead, we look back on where we’ve come from. Veteran anti-death penalty activists from the early 2000s as well as activists who have joined the movement in recent years will share their insights, and we will learn how to counter state propaganda and tackle powerful myths and beliefs about the death penalty and drug policy that stand in the way of more people supporting the movement for abolition.

11 Oct

7-9pm

"Now, if I say I don’t catch traffickers and wait for the kingpins, basically my drug policy will be out of the window," Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said in a 2022 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

Transformative Justice Collective is proud to present this irreverent webinar with Steve Rolles and Shayla Schlossenberg, two highly experienced, knowledgeable and passionate advocates for progressive drug policy reform in the world today. With their wisdom in the room, we will tear into the Singapore government's dangerous and aggressive propaganda for murderous drug policies, and rubbish the state’s claims about how the death penalty is necessary to keep Singapore society safe. This no-holds-barred take-down of Singapore's drug control regime promises to surprise, stimulate and challenge us to confront why the War on Drugs is a spectacular failure, and what drug law and policy reforms are necessary to truly protect public health, safety and justice.

About the speakers:

Steve Rolles is senior policy analyst for Transform Drug Policy Foundation, a UK drug policy and advocacy organization and registered charity where he has worked for more than 20 years. Steve has published a number of briefings, reports, journal papers and books on drug policy reform, in the UK and around the world. He has served as a consultant for a number of Governments and UN agencies, and as an advisor for the Global Commission on Drugs.

Shayla Schlossenberg is the Head of Drugs Services at Release, the UK’s centre of expertise on drugs and drug laws. Release provides legal support and drugs advice to people with a history of drug use or who are impacted by drug laws. They also campaign for evidence-based drug policies founded on principles of public health and human rights. Shayla’s extensive experience working with people who use drugs across different contexts and cultures gives them crucial insights into the failures of harsh drug laws, and what drug policy reforms are urgent for individual and community safety, health and justice.

This session will be held on Zoom, and will include a Q&A segment. .

16 Oct

7-8.30pm

In 2023, Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty. Out of more than 1000 individuals who had been sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, only a small fraction undergoing resentencing have not had their sentences commuted (changed).

Underlying this significant step towards full abolition of the death penalty was years of dogged advocacy by civil society, courageous battles by anti-death penalty lawyers, and principled leadership from within the political arena.

In this conversation with N Surendran from Lawyers for Liberty, a Malaysian human rights law organisation, we will dive into Malaysia’s journey towards abolition, and explore the lessons and implications it holds for the struggle against the death penalty in Singapore, where the government has been doubling down on the death penalty regime.

Surendran, who has spent many years fighting for the lives of Malaysians on death row in Singapore, will also share his unique perspective on Singapore's death penalty regime, gained through his work supporting Malaysian families who have a loved one facing capital punishment across the border, in Singapore's Changi Pr*son.

About the speaker:

N Surendran is a lawyer and former Member of Parliament in Malaysia. He co-founded Lawyers for Liberty, and has been the Malaysian solicitor for many Malaysian death row prisoners in Singapore.

This conversation will be held on Zoom, and will include a Q&A segment. This session will be held on Zoom, and will include a Q&A segment.

18 Oct

7-8.30pm

Most research recognises that there is little meaningful or reliable evidence for the deterrent effect of the death penalty, yet the claim of deterrence remains a core justification for the use of the death penalty in many retentionist states, including Singapore. In this webinar, Mai Sato will unpack the deterrence argument, how it shapes public opinion on the death penalty, and explore how it continues to compel lawmakers and laypersons, even though academic research shows that it is a weak, slippery argument.

About the speaker:

Dr Mai Sato is Associate Professor at Monash University and a fellow of Eleos Justice. She was its inaugural director before being appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran in July 2024.

Her academic research focuses on the death penalty, which she has studied across numerous jurisdictions. In 2014, she published the monograph “The Death Penalty in Japan: Will the Public Tolerate Abolition?.”

Mai also wrote an extensive review of the studies conducted or commissioned by the Ministry of Home Affairs to justify the death penalty titled “Singapore’s death penalty for drug trafficking: What the research says and doesn’t”, published on Academia.sg.

This session will be held on Zoom, and will include a Q&A segment. This session will be held on Zoom, and will include a Q&A segment.

Event Venue

UltraSuperNew Singapore Pte Ltd, 168 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore, Singapore