Edit: death penalty for smuggling is law in 33 countries. European nations do not have capital punishment at all.
How a Singapore execution set off a wave of protest - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61403692
Singapore: UN human rights experts urge immediate death penalty moratorium - https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/05/singapore-un...
The Movement to Close Singapore’s Death Row - https://www.thenation.com/article/world/singapore-death-pena...
Kirsten Han on the Fight to Abolish the Death Penalty in Singapore - https://thediplomat.com/2023/01/kirsten-han-on-the-fight-to-...
Singapore's govt recently expressed positive views about BRICS development. Wouldn't be surprised if that cued some human rights abuse articles in western aligned press. It's an obvious formula at this point.
Yet the presence of the articles doesn’t change the fundamental reality of the situation.
What are you talking about? Can you please cite the "international law" you are referring to?
And the international law for smuggling is not the death penalty.
One can never be fully sure.