Singaporean PM Lee Kuan Yew visits the Pulau Senang, a prison island where inmates could move freely, work, and build their own society. The experiment ended in a complete disaster. After a failed uprising in which four guards were killed, 59 prisoners went on trial for murder, 1963 [830 x 464].
by lightiggy
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[A documentary about the Pulau Senang riot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQP3zRWCBvU) ([part 2 of the documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ARPodY5WRk))
Since murder is not only a capital offense in Singapore, but, unlike in other countries with the death penalty, carries a mandatory death sentence with no exceptions unless the defendant is a juvenile. Since the defendants were all adults, not only were all 59 of them on trial for their lives, the unprecedented 64-day trial was also effectively an all-or-nothing deal for them. The three possible outcomes were a conviction for murder and the mandatory death sentence, a conviction for rioting and a short prison term, or an acquittal.
* Eighteen defendants were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death
* Eighteen defendants were found guilty of rioting with a deadly weapon and each sentenced to three years imprisonment
* Eleven defendants were found guilty of rioting and each sentenced to two years imprisonment
* Twelve defendants were acquitted