On Sunday, January 19, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam stated that when it comes to the death penalty, sentiments are “set aside” in order to save the vast majority of Singaporeans.
Mr. Shanmugam was reacting to a December report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) regarding US President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 prisoners before his resignation on January 20.
Some of the prisoners whom Mr. Biden has pardoned were featured in the US newspaper’s column, Biden’s Prisoners of (His) Conscience. These included Anthony Battle, who killed his wife and a prison guard, and Jorge Avila-Torrez, who sexually attacked and killed women.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Shanmugam stated, “President Biden referred to his conscience for doing this, He went on to say that the WSJ had also noted that, on the other hand, Mr. Biden had not commuted the death sentences of several others.
The shooter who massacred African-American worshippers at a Charleston church and the gunman who slaughtered Jewish members of a Pittsburgh synagogue were examples of this.
WSJ made the point about Biden’s conscience overriding the law: The prisoners he pardoned had gone through trials and appeals and were found guilty – beyond reasonable doubt, said Shanmugam.
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