Singapore has executed Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, who was convicted in 2018 for abetting the trafficking of 1 kilogram of cannabis, under Singapore’s strict drug laws.
Despite family pleas and protests from activists, Tangaraju was hanged on Wednesday morning.
An application filed by Tangaraju on Monday for a stay of execution was dismissed without a hearing Tuesday.
Kirsten Han of the Transformative Justice Collective, an advocacy group for abolishing the death penalty, tweeted that Tangaraju’s family was given the death certificate.
According to Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis can result in the death penalty.
Although Tangaraju was not caught with the cannabis, prosecutors traced his phone numbers and convicted him as the person responsible for coordinating the drug delivery.
However, Tangaraju maintained that he was not the one communicating with the other parties involved in the case.
Tangaraju’s execution has been condemned by various human rights organizations, including the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, which described it as “reprehensible” and Singapore’s continued use of the death penalty as an act of flagrant disregard for international human rights norms.
The network said in a statement, “The continued use of the death penalty by the Singaporean government is an act of flagrant disregard for international human rights norms and casts aspersion on the legitimacy of Singapore’s criminal justice system.”
The director of non-profit human rights organization Reprieve, Maya Foa said, “Singapore claims it affords people on death row ‘due process’, but in reality fair trial violations in capital punishment cases are the norm: Defendants are being left without legal representation when faced with imminent execution, as lawyers who take such cases are intimidated and harassed.”
Furthermore, at a United Nations Human Rights briefing on Tuesday, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, called on the Singapore government to adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offenses, citing the death penalty as being ineffective as a deterrent.
He said, “Imposing the death penalty for drug offences is incompatible with international norms and standards.”
Despite criticisms from activists and human rights organizations, Singapore’s government maintains that all those executed have been accorded full due process under the law and that the death penalty is necessary to protect its citizens.
However, critics argue that Singapore’s death penalty has mostly snared low-level offenders and done little to stop drug traffickers and organized syndicates.
The case has also drawn attention to Singapore’s use of the death penalty, which is in contrast to its neighboring countries.
Thailand has essentially legalized cannabis, while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.
Last year, Singapore executed 11 people for drug offenses, including a Malaysian man whose lawyers claimed was mentally disabled.
