Singapore hangs Indian-origin man over 1kg of cannabis

Singapore on Wednesday executed a 46-year-old Indian-origin drug trafficker, ignoring pleas for clemency from his family, human rights activists and the UN.
Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged at dawn in Changi Prison, aday after his 11th-hour appeal was rejected by a court here. The 46-year-old was sentenced in 2018 for coordinating with two other men to import 1kg of cannabis in 2013. Although he never came into contact with the drug, he was sentenced to death by hanging after a judge ruled that he was linked to the other men through two phone numbers belonging to him.
Singapore’s narcotics laws are some of the harshest in the world and mandate the death penalty for some drug trafficking offenses. Last year, the country executed 11 people, all for nonviolent drug offences. Tangaraju’s was Singapore’s first execution in six months. Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the sentence was “outrageous and unacceptable”.

Activists said the evidence against Tangaraju — the numbers on the phones of the othertwo men — was largely circumstantial. Human rights organisations also raised concerns that Tangaraju did not have access to a lawyer when he was first questioned by authorities — Singaporean law does not guarantee any such right — and was denied access to a Tamil interpreter when the police took his statement.
Before the execution, the United Nations’ top human rights official called for the authorities to “urgently reconsider” the sentence. “We have concerns around due process and respect for fair trial guarantees,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said. Singaporean authorities dismissed those concerns, saying that Tangaraju had been afforded due process.
The other two men connected to the case both gave evidence against Tangaraju at his trial. One of them, who was arrested with the cannabis in question, pleaded guilty to trafficking 499. 9 grams of the drug — just below the 500 grams that would draw the death penalty — and was sentenced to 23 years in prison and 15 strokes of the cane. The other received a discharge not amounting to acquittal.
Tangaraju’s family campaigned for clemency until his execution, issuing video appeals and writing letters to Singapore’s president, Halimah Yacob. On Tuesday, a court rejected a last-minute appeal from the family to have his case reviewed. In a 15-page judgment, Justice Chong explained that Tangaraju had failed to show a legitimate basis for the court to review his case.