Singapore intends to hang a man caught with one kilogram of cannabis after he was convicted.
The man. Tangaraju Suppiah, aged 46, received the sentence after being found guilty of conspiring to smuggle the drugs, according to AFP.
He received the sentence after being convicted the year previously for “abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic” over 1 kg of cannabis.
According to Singapore law, the amount of 1 kg of cannabis is twice the volume that is the ceiling for the death penalty.
The prosecutors in the case said that Tangaraju had two mobile phone numbers that he used as contacts.
A court of appeal has upheld the decision while the high country judge has said that the charge has been proved “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
Tangaraju’s sentence has brought worldwide attention to the city-state for its brutal drug laws.
Richard Branson, a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, was the latest to voice his concern accusing the evidence to be “largely circumstantial”.
Branson was just the latest voice of concern. Amnesty International, has condemned the decision as cruel.
here have also been accusations that Tangaraju did not have legal counsel when questioned by the police, something that Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau has denied.
Singapore has notoriously strict narcotic laws and resumed hanging for narcotics in March 2022 after a two-year break. Eleven hangings were carried out last year.
There was outrage last year as the Singaporean Olympic swimmer, Joseph Schooling, was found to have consumed cannabis while in Vietnam.
It is also possible for the nation to prosecute citizens who take drugs abroad.
Urine tests can be administered to citizens on re-entering the country and those who fail can face a 10-year prison sentence as well as a £12,300 fine.
Singapore’s strict laws remain despite other South East Asian states loosening their rules with Thailand now having fully legalised cannabis, although this has not gone as smoothly as the nation hoped.
Indonesia was also looking at legalising medicinal cannabis after a lengthy campaign, although this eventually ended in failure.
