Singapore: A 46-year-old drug trafficker of Indian descent was executed in Singapore despite appeals for clemency from his family, human rights advocates, and the UN.
Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged at dawn in Changi Prison, a day 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 drug regulations are among the strictest in the world, and some drug trafficking offences carry the death penalty. The nation hanged 11 persons in 2017 for drug-related nonviolent offences. Singapore's first execution in six months was that of Tangaraju.
Human rights organisations expressed concern that Tangaraju was denied access to a Tamil interpreter when the police collected his testimony and was denied access to a lawyer when he was originally questioned by authorities. Singaporean law does not guarantee such a right.
“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.