Singapore Executes Iranian-Singaporean Dual National Despite International Pleas

Authorities in Singapore have executed a Singaporean-Iranian dual national on drug-related charges, despite international calls to halt the proceedings.

“Unfortunately, Masoud Rahimi, an Iranian-Singaporean citizen, was executed this morning in Singapore for possessing and trafficking less than 32 grams of diamorphine,” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization, said.

“Masoud did not have the opportunity to see his father one last time and say goodbye. Execution is an inhumane, cruel, and humiliating punishment that must be condemned everywhere.

Many individuals and human rights organizations in Singapore and internationally had worked to save Masoud’s life,” he added.

Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad, 34, was arrested on May 20, 2010, for drug-related offenses and later sentenced to death.

Born in Singapore to an Iranian father and a Singaporean mother, Masoud was taken to Iran by his father as a small child after his parents’ divorce.

He completed his primary education in Iran before moving to Dubai with his family, where he attended secondary school.

At 17, he returned to Singapore to fulfill his compulsory National Service, despite his father’s efforts to defer it until he was older and better equipped for the transition.

The Islamic Republic’s foreign minister urged on Friday his Singaporean counterpart to reconsider the execution of Masoud Rahimi, a Singaporean-Iranian dual national.

Abbas Araghchi conveyed the message to Vivian Balakrishnan, saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran respects Singapore’s laws but urges reconsideration of Masoud Rahimi’s execution on humanitarian grounds,” according to IRNA news agency.

On Thursday, prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh appealed to Singapore’s president to intervene and prevent the execution.

In a letter, Sotoudeh implored President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to use his constitutional powers to halt the execution “by any means you see fit.”