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SINGAPORE, Dec 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Activists launched a fresh legal challenge Wednesday against Singapore's mandatory death penalty for certain drug crimes, as executions hit a 22-year high in the city-state.

The death penalty is mandatory in Singapore for drug trafficking above certain quantities, including 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin.

The country has executed 17 prisoners -- mostly convicted drug traffickers -- so far this year, the highest annual total since 2003.

A High Court judge heard on Wednesday the first petition against the mandatory sentence for 15 years.

Four human rights activists and relatives of three executed prisoners appeared at the behind-closed-doors proceedings.

They argue that the mandatory death penalty violates parts of Singapore's constitution guaranteeing the right to life and equal protection under the law.

They also say current legislation still restricts judges from using their own discretion in sentencing, despite amendments in 2012 that carved out exceptions to the death penalty.

"The judge has no discretion to take into consideration your circumstances, like whether you were acting out of desperation, you were in dire poverty, whether you were coerced," said Kokila Annamalai, co-founder of campaign group Transformative Justice Collective.

It was "not fair that someone who might be just a courier... will be treated the same as the actual drug kingpin", fellow activist Kirsten Han told AFP.

No timetable has been given for the judge's ruling, said the activists, who represented themselves in court.

Previous legal challenges, including the last one in 2010, were unsuccessful.

Singapore carried out its latest executions in November when three people were hanged in two days. Two others were hanged on October 15.

The activists said 40 prisoners, all drug convicts, are currently on death row.

Officials maintain that the death penalty has made Singapore one of the world's safest cities, and a government survey in 2023 showed strong public support for capital punishment being used for serious crimes.