S'pore hangs five criminals

S'pore hangs five criminals

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Two Thais and an Indonesian were among five men hanged in Singapore yesterday for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking, the prisons department said.

The Thais, Samlee Prathumtree, 45, and Khampun Sriyotha, 31, both construction workers, were found guilty in November 1995 of murdering fellow Thai worker Somwang Yapapha, 35, a department statement said.

Indonesian La Abuhari bin La Ode Hamid, 29, was hanged for jointly trafficking more than 590 grams of cannabis with Singaporean Abdul Raman bin Yusof, 39, who was also executed.

Another Singaporean, Low Theng Ghee, 31, was hanged for trafficking 31.45 grams of heroin.

Nearly 290 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1975, more than half for drug trafficking.