Dear President Tharman and Minister Shanmugam,
My name is Hamzah bin Ibrahim. On 11 October, my family and I were given notice that my execution has been scheduled for 15 October 2025. This is my second execution notice this year; I was originally scheduled to be hanged on 26 February, but received a respite order.
I was convicted of possessing not less than 26.29g of diamorphine for the purposes of trafficking in 2017, and given a mandatory death sentence. I write this letter not in an attempt to hinder my execution, but because, with so little time left for me to live, this is my last chance to say what needs to be said.
I have never tried to escape accountability or responsibility for my actions. After I was charged, I effectively pleaded guilty, and did not raise any substantive defence at trial. I admitted to what I’d done.
Both during investigations and at trial, I did my utmost to cooperate with the authorities. The information that I provided must have been useful to law enforcement in disrupting drug trafficking activities, because my efforts were acknowledged by the Attorney-General, who issued me a Certificate of Substantive Assistance.
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, a person who has been issued such a certificate can be sentenced to life imprisonment with caning instead of the death penalty, as long as they are also found to be a courier. However, the judge decided that I was not a courier, and there was therefore no other option but to sentence me to death.
In 2012, during the second reading for the Misuse of Drugs Act (Amendment) Bill that introduced this Certificate of Substantive Assistance scheme, Minister Shanmugam said (emphasis mine):
“The issue is not what we can do to help couriers avoid capital punishment. It is what we can do to enhance the effectiveness of the Act in a non-capricious and fair way without affecting our underlying fight against drugs. Discretionary sentencing for those who offer substantive assistance is the approach we have taken. For those who cannot offer substantive assistance, then the position is as it is now.”
In making the finding that I was not a courier, the judge had significantly relied on my admissions that I had intended to sell the drugs. But the reality is that I had not actually sold the drugs.
Furthermore, during the trial, the prosecution took the view that it was my co-accused, Tika Pesik, who had “directed the entire transaction” and got the other co-accused, Farid, to “deliver drugs on her behalf” to me. (Despite this, Farid was not given the mandatory death penalty.)
While I admit to my wrongdoing, my family and I believe that it is clear from the case that my culpability in the drug transaction was less than the others. I struggle to understand why, despite receiving a Certificate of Substantive Assistance, I am still facing this death sentence.
What does this serve? What do the authorities actually want to achieve? If the priority is to disrupt and curb the drug trade, why is Singapore killing people who have so little power and influence within drug syndicates, even if we’ve already done everything we can to cooperate with the authorities?
The drug trade is a huge and complex web, and the roles that individuals play within it are not as clear-cut or easy to define as the Misuse of Drugs Act states in Section 33B(2)(a).
A failure to meet those requirements does not mean that I was more powerful or influential within the syndicate, or that I profited more from the drug trade and was more culpable. I understand that this is the law as it currently stands—and that this is why the state says I have to die—but we need to see with our eyes open, to see each person for who they are, to see whether our actions and choices match our values and principles.
I’ve tried my best to take responsibility and make amends for what I’d done, cooperating with the investigation as much as I could. I’ve already served about eight years on death row, during which time the prison had, on some occasions, illegally forwarded my correspondence to the Attorney-General.
Despite my honest admissions, my cooperation with the authorities, my remorse and the punishment I have already borne, it has been decided that I am to be killed on Wednesday.
Yours Sincerely,
Hamzah bin Ibrahim
(Sent on behalf by “Yani”, niece of Hamzah bin Ibrahim)
Email sent on 13 October 2025
The post If disruption is the goal, why execute me? A final letter from death row appeared first on The Online Citizen.
