Johannes van Damme

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Johannes van Damme (1 June 1935 – 23 September 1994) was a Dutch engineer executed by hanging in Singapore for smuggling heroin. He was the first European executed in Singapore since its independence.

Van Damme had lived in Nigeria for a while and was married with a Nigerian woman at the time of his arrest. He was arrested on 27 September 1991 at Changi Airport in Singapore. In a secret compartment of his trunk, 4.32 kilograms of heroin was found. Van Damme claimed he had been framed by his Nigerian engineer partner, but this claim was rejected by the court. In November 1993 the appeal took place, and the sentence was confirmed. A plea for clemency from the Dutch government was rejected by the President of Singapore. Neither could a letter from Queen Beatrix sent to the president prevent van Damme from being executed. On the morning of Friday 23 September 1994 between 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., the death sentence was carried out at Changi Prison.