British Billionaire Richard Branson Declines Invite to Death Penalty Debate with Min Shanmugam, Says Debate Needs Local Voices Instead

Well known opponent of the death penalty British Billionaire, activist and interstellar defender of freedom Richard Branson has declined Singapore’s invitation to a live televised debate on the death penalty against Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

Richard Branson the Anti-Death Penalty Hero…

Strangely, just days before he was officially invited to the debate, Richard Branson has been spending an enormous amount of time on the internet, making his case against the death penalty in Singapore.

Among other things, Richard Branson made a lengthy blog post titled “World Day Against the Death Penalty: What’s the matter with Singapore?”, in which he disparages Singapore for the stubborn use of the death penalty for drug offences.

In his blog post, Richard Branson also talked about how Singapore “seems bent on executing scores of low-level drug traffickers, mostly members of poor, disadvantaged minorities”, such as Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian man who was found guilty of trafficking heroin.

Chickening Out When Shit Gets Real…

Just when everyone was waiting for the brave anti-death penalty hero to make his case against Minister K Shanmugam in the debate, Richard Branson now says that he is declining the invitation, as the issue of the death penalty in Singapore, requires local voices, and that his involvement would create just too much spectacle. Richard Branson also said that Singapore should engage local anti-death penalty advocates like M Ravi.

This is rather odd, given that Richard Branson is no stranger to creating spectacles, with his unusual stunts, and unadulterated words on social media, particularly those recently made against Singapore about the death penalty. Why is Richard Branson choosing to abandon his crusade now? Has the knight (he is literally) lost his balls when he finally has the chance to jump into action to defend the poor defenseless drug traffickers on death row?

A Word of Advice to Richard Branson…

It is never a wise thing to involve yourself in the matters of other people’s household, especially when you fail to grasp the significance of the issue i.e. why Singapore insists on imposing the death penalty for drug offences. While people like Richard Branson sees it as an archaic, brutal and cruel piece of legislation, the very existence of the law has only one true purpose, as Minister K Shanmugam puts it

“The death penalty for drug trafficking is not determined by external parties, but the interest of its citizens.”

 

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