Beating the families of British drug traffickers in Singapore: is 20 years not enough

[Global Times reporter Xin Bin] “isn’t a 20-year sentence not enough?” Ye Mingyuan, a Chinese British man jailed in Singapore for drug trafficking, was whipped 24 times on the 18th after the final appeal failed last week. Ye’s family members said they could not understand this. In fact, the British side has repeatedly pleaded for ye Mingyuan and strongly condemned the “severe corporal punishment” of flogging, but failed to stop the Singapore side from “executing the penalty”. In response to questions from the families of the prisoners and the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom, the Singapore Embassy in the UK said it was to “protect the well-being of its own people”. Ye Mingyuan, 31, was whipped at Changi prison in Singapore on the 18th, according to an exclusive report by the daily mail on the 19th. Naked, he was tied to a big wooden frame and whipped his buttocks 24 times with a cane about 1.22 meters long. His sister Alicia said that night, “we are surprised that Mingyuan has survived the pain of 24 lashes both mentally and physically. He knew he had made a mistake and should be punished. We also know that different countries have different laws and should abide by them. But is 20 years not enough? ” The flogging has triggered a diplomatic storm between Singapore and Britain, the Metropolitan Daily said on the 20th. On the evening of 18th, the British Embassy in Singapore said clearly that “Britain opposes corporal punishment under any circumstances and condemns Singapore for flogging British citizens”. In response, the Singapore Embassy in the United Kingdom responded that they adopted the strictest law enforcement and the most severe punishment in drug-related crimes, in order to protect the well-being of their own people and realize their “desire to live in a safe environment and raise their children”. Ye Mingyuan was born in London to a Chinese Singaporean father. In 2007, ye Mingyuan returned to live in Singapore. In 2016, ye Mingyuan was arrested for carrying 15 grams, but was later released on bail. Soon after, he was again arrested for possession and trafficking. After more than two years of trial, ye Mingyuan finally admitted four of the court’s 12 charges. A Singapore court originally intended to sentence Ye Mingyuan to death, but he was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and 24 lashes for carrying no more than 500 grams of drugs, Weiss News reported on the 19th. As for the verdict, ye Mingyuan said that he did sell drugs and take drugs, but he should not be sentenced so heavily, “I don’t want to stay here for 20 years. And I’ll be raped by a young man. Because he felt that the sentence was unreasonable, ye Mingyuan, who was serving a sentence in Changyi prison, has been appealing for the abolition of his whipping. However, Ye’s final appeal was rejected last week. According to British law, ye Mingyuan may be sentenced to about one year’s imprisonment for the amount of drugs he carries. However, in Singapore, a country with zero drug tolerance and low crime rate, his crime is serious. The number of flogging was also the highest. According to Singapore’s Straits Times, no matter the number of crimes, the maximum sentence for a sentence is 24 lashes. The British government has been dissatisfied with such a sentence. Since ye Mingyuan was sentenced, former foreign minister hunt and current foreign minister Patel have pleaded with the Singapore government to reduce his punishment, including abolishing flogging, the Daily Mail said on the 19th. Meanwhile, human rights groups have denounced the use of flogging in Singapore as a violation of the UN Convention against torture. But it is clear that these voices have not affected the Singapore ruling. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time that Singapore has triggered a diplomatic storm due to flogging. In the 1990s, an American was sentenced to six lashes and four months in prison for vandalism of traffic signs in Singapore. When the news reached the United States, the American people wrote to the Singapore Embassy in Washington asking for a change in the sentence. Even then US President Bill Clinton personally pleaded with the then Singapore president, Wang Dingchang. In response, Wang Dingchang replied that Singapore is a country with independent judiciary, and as president, he can only respect judicial decisions. In fact, flogging is a widely used punishment method in Singapore. Interestingly, it is also a product of the British colonial era and has been used to this day. It is reported that about 1000 people in Singapore are flogged every year. Currently, there are more than 40 different crimes in Singapore law, including kidnapping, robbery, illegal drug use, vandalism, rape and carrying offensive weapons in public places. Flogging is mandatory for rape, illegal smuggling or trafficking in drugs, illegal loans, and illegal detention for more than 90 days. < / P > < p > according to Singapore’s prison regulations, flogging is always accompanied by imprisonment and is not sentenced separately. In addition, flogging is applicable to male prisoners, ranging from 16 to 50 years old, and can only be carried out after medical officials have confirmed that they are in proper physical condition. The whip used in whipping is made of rattan, so it is commonly known as rattan. The size and size of the cane whip are specified in the law: the length of the cane whip for adult male is about 1.2 m, and the diameter is no more than 1.27 cm. Before execution, the front 1 / 3 part of the cane whip is immersed in water to make it more flexible and elastic, leaving no thorn in the wound. The execution place of flogging is a specially designated flogging room in the prison. According to the prison practice, the prisoner takes off all his clothes and walks to the wooden “a” shaped execution rack, stands facing the execution rack, bends down on the cushion in front of the execution rack, and his ankle is fixed on the base of the scaffold by a strong leather strip, and his whole body bends from his hip and his buttocks rise up to wait for his sentence in a posture of bending down to nearly 90 degrees. The execution site is the prisoner’s naked buttocks, because the buttocks are fat, a beating will not cause great harm. In addition, flogging must be carried out at one time, not by stages. If the number of flogging is large, several executioners will take turns whipping the prisoner to ensure that the whipping effect remains the same throughout. After the flogging, the medical staff will deal with the wound in time. The Singapore government denies that flogging is cruel and inhumane, and supports flogging as an effective way to curb crime, according to Wes news. According to a survey conducted by Singapore’s Ministry of the interior in 2018, the public still highly supports the implementation of flogging for drug-related criminals, with 80.1% of people believing that flogging is an appropriate punishment.