Singapore executed a prisoner on Wednesday after he was convicted of conspiring to smuggle one kilogram of cannabis, despite rights groups criticizing “many flaws” in the case.
Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged despite a request from the UN Human Rights Office for Singapore to “urgently reconsider” and demands from British businessman Richard Branson to stop it.
The Asian financial center has some of the strictest anti-narcotics legislation in the world and says the death sentence is still an effective deterrent to drug trafficking.
“Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex,” a spokesman for the Singapore Prison Service told AFP.
Tangaraju was convicted in 2017 of “abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic” 1,017.9 grams (35.9 ounces) of cannabis, which is twice the minimum quantity necessary for a death sentence in Singapore, according to the spokesman.
He was sentenced to death in 2018, and the Court of Appeal later upheld the conviction, but rights groups contended the case had serious flaws.
Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said the evidence “was far from clear cut – since he never actually touched the marijuana in question, was questioned by police without a lawyer, and denied access to a Tamil interpreter when he asked for one.”
He added the hanging “raises serious concerns that Singapore is launching a renewed spree to empty its death row in a misguided effort of deterrence.”
Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Ming Yu Hah said there were “many flaws” in the case and that the hanging showed “the staggering failure of Singapore’s stubborn embrace of the death penalty.”
