1. The capital sentence of death imposed on Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad (“Masoud”) was carried out on 29 November 2024.
2. Masoud, a 35-year-old Singaporean, was convicted of having in his possession for the purpose of trafficking, not less than 31.14 grammes of diamorphine, or pure heroin. The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine trafficked is more than 15 grammes. 31.14 grammes of diamorphine is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 370 abusers for a week.
3. Masoud was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process.
a. Masoud was convicted on 18 November 2013 and sentenced to the death penalty on 19 October 2015.
b. He appealed against his conviction and sentence, and the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on 10 October 2016.
4. Masoud’s petitions to the President for clemency were unsuccessful.
5. After Masoud was notified of the scheduled execution, he filed a legal application CA/OAC 2/2024 (“OAC 2”), on 27 November 2024, for stay of execution and permission to file a Post-appeal Application in Capital Cases (“PACC”) application. OAC 2 was summarily dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 28 November 2024.
6. Masoud has been involved in multiple other post-appeal applications. He was an applicant and/or joint applicant for nine other legal proceedings. All these applications have been resolved.
7. On 19 September 2024, Masoud was part of a group of 31 prisoners awaiting capital punishment who filed an application challenging the constitutionality of certain provisions introduced under the PACC Act 2022. This application is pending before the High Court. Masoud has been scheduled for execution as the outcome of the application is not relevant to his conviction or sentence.
8. Capital punishment is imposed only for the most serious crimes, such as the trafficking of significant quantities of drugs which cause very serious harm, not just to individual drug abusers, but also to their families and the wider society.
Central Narcotics Bureau
29 November 2024
