Faced with the severely grim notion of a kin being hanged to death, the family members of prisoners awaiting execution will now have access to a private room at the Prison Link Centre (Changi).
In a statement made by the Singapore Prison Service, the dedicated room will be made available from today onwards, Channel NewsAsia reported. Family members can use the room from the eve of the execution itself, and there’ll be trained counselors on hand to provide emotional support and assistance if need be.
Prior to this initiative, relatives of the prisoner due to be executed were known to gather outside the premises of Changi Prison to mourn — usually early on Friday mornings. Hangings in Singapore are always carried out on Fridays at the crack of dawn.
The move might also be a reactionary response to the clamor resulting from a vigil held for executed Malaysian national Prabagaran Srivijayan on July 13. According to journalist and anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han who was at the vigil, police officers dropped by the assembly to seize the candles and photos of Prabagaran set up near the prison. Han, along with other individuals at the vigil, was subsequently investigated by the police for the alleged offence of “Taking Part in a Public Assembly without a Permit”.
Han has also commented on the Singapore Prison Service’s new initiative, expressing mixed feelings about the private room.
Singapore’s continued practice of the death penalty in the 21st century is an open secret — one that has sparked years of controversy and impassioned debates. Since 1991, Singapore has hanged over 400 prisoners (of which a significant number constitutes foreign nationals) and arguably topped the list of the world’s highest execution rate per capita in the late 1990s.
