Singapore executes Aussie trafficker despite protests

Some 420 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, Amnesty International says. That gives the country of 4.4 million people the highest execution rate in the world relative to population.

Analysts said Singapore would not likely budge on its death sentence for crimes such as murder and drug trafficking.

8220;Singapore is a small, affluent society next door to one of the world8217;s biggest suppliers of drugs8212;the golden triangle. I think Singapore would have been a very different place if it was not tough on it,8221; said political analyst Seah Chiang Nee. 8212;Reuters

The factfile

8226; More than 3,797 people were executed in 2004, according to Amnesty International. That was the second-highest figure the organisation has recorded since its monitoring began 25 years ago. In 1996, 4,272 were executed, Amnesty said.

8226; Five countries8212;Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal and Turkey 8212; abolished the death penalty last year, taking the total number to 120, the human-rights organization said earlier this year.

8226; China accounted for at least 3,400 executions last year8212;about nine out of 10 cases. Iran was second, executing at least 159 people. Three were children, including a 16-year-old girl hanged for 8220;acts incompatible with chastity8221;, it said.