Singapore steps up executions and pressure on anti-death penalty groups

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Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad’s father was in a remote part of Iran when he received the news that he had long dreaded.

His son was to be hanged in Singapore’s Changi Prison.

Suffering from deteriorating health and with just a week’s notice until the execution at dawn on November 29, he was unable to take on the demanding trip to see his son in person for one last time, according to reports.

Instead, the final contact between the father and son came via a long-distance phone call.

Despite a last-ditch legal challenge, Masoud was hanged on the final Friday of November, more than 14 years after he was first arrested for drug offences.

Masoud, 35, became the ninth person to be hanged in Singapore this year.