Singapore courts set to consider executions amid fears authorities want to clear backlog

Courts in Singapore are set to decide whether to execute four men, including Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who has learning difficulties. Photograph: Fazry Ismail/EPA

Courts in Singapore will next week consider arguments by four men who have spent more than a decade on death row, amid fears the city state may push ahead with executions to free up space on death row.

The Singaporean government does not disclose how many people are held on death row, though campaigners believe there are likely more than 50 men awaiting execution, the majority of whom have been convicted of drug offences.