A court in Singapore sentenced a man to death for trafficking one kilogram of cannabis. The sentence indicates that he will be hanged. Authorities in the Asian country overruled the prisoner’s appeal against the sentence.

First arrests made in Singapore for possession of New Psychoactive Substances

Tangaraju Suppiah, who was convicted in 2018, will be executed next Wednesday, despite outrage and opposition from various groups who consider this measure “extremely cruel” and a “violation of international law”.

#Singapore #deathpenalty #cannabis https://t.co/2b6aQjDM7E

— Death Penalty News (@WebDPN) April 23, 2023

Although under Singaporean law the amount of marijuana that can carry the death penalty is half a kg, Suppiah was sentenced for trafficking one kilogram of cannabis, twice this amount. The Court of Appeal upheld his sentence, stating that his responsibility was proven “beyond reasonable doubt”.

Despite the fact that Suppiah never touched the drug, he was charged and convicted of complicity in the trafficking of illegal substances, which has generated the rejection of several human rights organisations, who argue that the sentence is neither fair nor proportionate to the crime committed.

The man will be executed for complicity in the trafficking of one kg of marijuana, according to human rights organisations in the Southeast Asian city-state.

The execution of Tangaraju Suppiah, a Singapore Tamil man, has been scheduled for 26 April, next Wednesday, at Changi Prison. This is the first execution to be scheduled in 6 months, after Singapore's brutal killing spree last year robbed 11 lives. pic.twitter.com/KdI5XaY8TK

— Kokila Annamalai (@Kokilaparvathi) April 19, 2023

To date, Singapore has convicted hundreds of men, including foreign nationals, due to its zero-tolerance policy on illicit drugs.

The situation has generated intense debate about capital punishment and how the state seeks to combat drug trafficking, leading humanitarian groups to call for the abolition of the practice in Singapore and other countries around the world.

-Thailand News (TN)