Singapore on Wednesday executed a man convicted of conspiracy to traffic about two pounds of cannabis, a sentence that human rights groups called grossly excessive as other countries around the world relaxed their stances on marijuana.
The man, Tangaraju Suppiah, a 46-year-old Singaporean, was convicted in 2018 of coordinating with two other men to import the cannabis in 2013. Though he never came into contact with the drug, he was sentenced to death by hanging after a judge ruled he was linked to the other men through two phone numbers that belonged to him.
Singapore’s drug laws are among the strictest in the world, prescribing the death penalty for some drug trafficking offences. Last year, the country executed 11 people, all for nonviolent drug crimes.
Singapore has continued to carry out executions for drug-related crimes, even though neighboring and rival Malaysia recently abolished the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes, including drug-related offences.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the sentence was “outrageous and unacceptable” and “raises serious concern that Singapore is launching another attack to clear its death row in a misguided deterrence attempt that effectively reveals more about the barbarity of Singapore than anything else.”
Kirsten Han, an opponent of the death penalty, said Mr Tangaraju’s execution showed that Singapore had prioritized “crackdown on crime” over introducing more effective policies to reduce drug harm.
Activists said the evidence against Mr Tangaraju – the numbers on the phones of the other two men – was largely circumstantial. Human rights groups also expressed concern that Mr Tangaraju was not allowed access to a lawyer when he was first questioned by authorities – Singapore law does not guarantee such a right – and was denied access to a Tamil interpreter when the police took his statement.
Ahead of the execution, the United Nations’ top human rights official called on authorities to “reconsider the sentence as a matter of urgency”.
“We are concerned about due process and respect for guarantees of a fair trial,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
The Singaporean authorities dismissed those concerns, saying Mr Tangaraju had received a fair trial. In a statement ahead of his execution, the country’s Central Narcotics Bureau said he had “access to legal advice throughout the process”. It also said a judge found his claim that he was denied an interpreter “unfair” because he did not ask for an interpreter when making subsequent statements to authorities.
“The death penalty is part of Singapore’s comprehensive harm prevention strategy, which targets both drug demand and supply,” the statement said.
The other two men involved in the case both gave evidence against Mr. 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 under 500 grams or 1.1 pounds, which would have been punishable by death – and was sentenced to 23 years in prison and 15 years in prison. caning. The other received a dismissal that did not amount to an acquittal.
Mr. Tangaraju’s family campaigned for clemency through video messages and letter writing to Singapore President Halimah Yacob until his execution. On Tuesday, a Singaporean court rejected a last-minute appeal from the family.
“His family said they wouldn’t give him up until the very last minute,” said Ms. Han, the anti-death penalty activist, who lives with Mr. Tangaraju spoke. “It was important to them that they kept fighting for him.”