SINGAPORE: More Singapore residents support the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes, according to the findings of a 2023 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) survey released on Thursday (Sep 19).
A survey was first conducted in 2021 to “better understand public perceptions” and the ministry conducted it again two years later.
According to the latest survey findings, 77.4 per cent of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes, such as murder and trafficking a “significant amount of drugs”.
This was higher than the 73.7 per cent in the 2021 survey.
There were “statistically significant increases” in the proportion of respondents who strongly agreed or agreed with the use of the mandatory death penalty as punishment for three crimes.
They are trafficking a significant amount of drugs, discharging or attempting to discharge a firearm with the intent to cause injury, and intentional murder.
About 68.7 per cent of the respondents in the latest survey agreed or strongly agreed the mandatory death penalty was appropriate as punishment for trafficking a significant amount of drugs, up from 65.6 per cent in 2021.
There was also an increase in those who agreed or strongly agreed that such a punishment was appropriate for firearm offences – from 71.1 per cent in 2021 to 74.3 per cent in 2023.
For intentional murder, 85 per cent of respondents in 2023 strongly agreed or agreed that the mandatory death penalty was appropriate as punishment, higher than the 80.5 per cent in 2021.
The preliminary figures of the 2023 survey were revealed by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam in a ministerial statement in May.
“There is broad support from our population because we have been upfront and open about the rationale, circumstances and safeguards on the use of the death penalty,” said Mr Shanmugam.