46-year-old Singaporean executed on 16 April despite civil society calls to halt execution

SINGAPORE: A 46-year-old Singaporean man convicted of importing more than one kilogramme of cannabis was executed on 16 April 2026, according to an official statement from the Central Narcotic Bureau (CNB).

The CNB confirmed that the capital sentence imposed on Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj, referred to as Omar, “was carried out today”.

The execution proceeded despite appeals from several international and regional civil society organisations urging the Singapore government to halt the sentence.

Conviction and legal process

According to the CNB, Omar was convicted on 24 February 2021 of importing not less than 1,009.1 grammes of cannabis into Singapore.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, the importation of more than 500 grammes of cannabis carries the mandatory death penalty.

The CNB stated that the quantity involved in the case was “sufficient to feed the addiction of about 144 abusers for a week”.

Omar’s conviction and sentence were upheld by the Court of Appeal on 12 October 2021.

Authorities said he was accorded full due process under the law and was represented by legal counsel during both his trial and subsequent appeal.

Arrest and evidence presented in court

The CNB said Omar entered Singapore from Malaysia via Woodlands Checkpoint by car on 12 July 2018.

During a routine inspection, an auxiliary police officer discovered a bag belonging to Omar.

The bag contained three bundles wrapped in aluminium foil, cling wrap and newspaper.

These bundles were later analysed by the Health Sciences Authority and found to contain not less than 1,009.1 grammes of cannabis.

At trial, Omar argued that he did not know the nature of the bundles found in the vehicle.

He also alleged that enforcement officers had threatened him during questioning.

According to his claims, one officer threatened to slap him if he did not admit ownership of the bundles. Another officer allegedly threatened to throw a pen at him and to hang both him and his father if he refused to cooperate.

Court findings on defence claims

The High Court rejected these allegations, finding material inconsistencies in Omar’s testimony.

The court concluded that his accounts were not reliable, according to CNB.

In contrast, officers present during the recording of his statements provided mutually corroborative accounts.

Their testimonies were also supported by closed-circuit television footage.

After reviewing the evidence presented by both prosecution and defence, the High Court determined that Omar knew the nature of the bundles and had intentionally brought them into Singapore.

He was subsequently convicted under section 7 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Appeal and post-appeal applications

Omar appealed against both his conviction and sentence.

The Court of Appeal found that the High Court had carefully examined the evidence and saw no basis to overturn the decision.

Following the dismissal of his appeal, Omar filed four post-appeal applications.

All of these applications were either dismissed or otherwise resolved.

After being notified that his execution was scheduled for 16 April, Omar filed a further legal application under section 394H of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.

This application sought to initiate a review of the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision.

In the filing, he repeated his earlier allegation that an officer had threatened to slap him.

The Court of Appeal stated that this allegation had already been fully examined during both the trial and appeal stages.

Finding no new or sufficient material presented, the court dismissed the application on 15 April 2024.

Clemency petition rejected

The CNB stated that Omar had submitted petitions for clemency to the President, but these were unsuccessful.

Separately, Omar’s family received formal notice on 2 April 2026 from the Singapore Prison Service that the execution would take place two weeks later.

On 12 April, his wife Alexandra Maria, a German national, wrote to the office of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam appealing for clemency.

According to a joint statement by human rights organisations, Omar had been living in Germany at the time of his arrest and was no longer a resident of Singapore.

His wife stated that he had returned to Singapore to spend the holy month of Ramadan with extended family.

She added that their children, daughter Amal and son Naqeeb, remained in Germany.

The statement said the family had been unable to visit Omar in prison due to financial constraints and their son’s health condition, which required specialised medical treatment.

Naqeeb died in November 2025 at the age of 11.

“Omar and his family have already endured unimaginable suffering since his incarceration in 2018,” said Karen Gomez-Dumpit, convenor at the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network.

“Executing him now would only compound that pain and leave his daughter without ever truly knowing her father,” she added.

Rights groups condemn execution

In a joint statement issued on 15 April, several organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Capital Punishment Justice Project, and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network called for the execution to be halted.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Southeast Asia researcher at Amnesty International, stated: “The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishment.”

She further criticised Singapore’s policies, saying the continued use of capital punishment for drug-related offences “is a violation of international human rights law and standards”.

She added that it places Singapore “increasingly out of step with the rest of the world on this issue”.

The joint statement noted that Singapore’s legal framework provides for the death penalty in cases involving trafficking, importing, or exporting drugs above specified thresholds.

International human rights standards, including those cited by United Nations experts, state that capital punishment should be reserved only for the most serious crimes.

According to these standards, drug-related offences do not meet that threshold.

The statement also highlighted findings from the trial judge that Omar’s role was limited to transporting drugs.

However, the prosecution did not issue a certificate confirming that he had substantively assisted authorities in disrupting drug trafficking activities.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, such a certificate, along with a finding that the accused acted only as a courier, is required for the court to exercise sentencing discretion.

Without both conditions being met, the judge had no option but to impose the mandatory death penalty.

Joint diplomatic appeal against execution

The Delegation of the European Union, together with diplomatic missions of EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in Singapore, called on authorities to halt Omar's execution.

The group reiterated its opposition to capital punishment “in all cases and in all circumstances”, stating that it violates the right to life and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

It added that international human rights law restricts the death penalty to the most serious crimes involving intentional killing, and argued that drug-related offences do not meet this threshold.

The statement also said there is no conclusive evidence that capital punishment deters drug trafficking and warned of its irreversible nature in cases of potential miscarriages of justice.

The group urged Singapore to adopt a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition.

Government stance on capital punishment

The CNB in its 16 April statement reiterated that capital punishment is imposed only for the most serious offences.

It stated that drug trafficking and importation of significant quantities cause severe harm not only to individuals but also to families and society at large.

The bureau maintained that Singapore’s approach is intended to deter drug-related crimes and protect public safety.

According to figures cited in the rights groups' joint statement, Singapore has executed seven individuals since 1 January 2026, all for drug-related offences. Omar's execution on 16 April would bring that figure to at least eight.

In 2025, authorities carried out fifteen executions for similar offences, an increase of seven compared to the previous year.