A Dutch-born engineer was hanged here Friday on narcotics charges, the first Westerner to be executed under Singapore's draconian drug laws.
The Singapore authorities carried out the execution of the engineer, Johannes Van Damme, 59, despite appeals from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and from the Dutch foreign ministry, and despite reports linking Van Damme to the Dutch intelligence agency.In a statement Friday, the Dutch foreign ministry said the government was "greatly disappointed and appalled to learn of the execution."
The hanging, which took place at dawn at Changi prison, sent a chill through Singapore's large community of Western expatriates, many of whom were already alarmed by the recent caning of an American teenager and the arrest last month of an American businessman on assault charges.
Van Damme was arrested at Singapore airport in September 1991 after the police found 9.5 pounds of heroin hidden in his suitcase. He was taken into custody shortly after he arrived from Thailand.