KUALA LUMPUR – The execution of Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah early this morning over 1017.9g of cannabis has garnered backlash from human rights groups as the island republic remains firm with its death penalty.
The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) said in a statement that the other individual in the case, known as Mogan Valo, was charged with a lighter offence of possession with intent to traffic 499.99g of cannabis.
“Three other people were initially charged with the same capital charge as Tangaraju but were granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal.
“To date, there is no explanation for the discrepancy in the amount Mogan Valo was convicted of and the significantly higher volume of cannabis in Tangaraju’s case.
There is also no explanation provided as to why the others incarcerated were granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal if the attempt to traffic drugs were as severe as described by the Home Affairs Ministry.
“Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex,” a spokesman for the Singapore Prisons Service told AFP.
Adpan added that there were possible discrepancies during the trial and appeals as Tangaraju was deprived of legal representation.
“He was forced to file for his own subsequent appeals without any access to counsel to appear on his behalf. Concerningly, the Singapore judiciary has allowed for his appeal to proceed without appropriate legal representation with absolute disregard for Tangaraju’s right to a fair trial.”
This, Adpan said, confirms growing perceptions that Singapore’s death penalty violates international law and “casts aspersions on the legitimacy” of its criminal justice system.
12th execution since last year
Tangaraju’s execution is the first in six months and 12th since last year in the city-state.
He was convicted of abetting drug trafficking by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic 1017.9g of cannabis – twice the minimum volume required for a death sentence in Singapore.
He was sentenced to death in 2018 and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision.
Tangaraju’s execution also sparked a fierce response from Amnesty International deputy regional director Ming Yu Hah, who said: “This unlawful execution shows yet again the staggering failure of Singapore’s stubborn embrace of the death penalty.”
“The many flaws in the case, from lack of access to legal counsel and of interpretation from the point of arrest, to the lack of disclosure of key evidence from the prosecution, as well as the continued reliance on the mandatory death penalty renders this execution arbitrary under international human rights law.
“The country’s highly repressive drug control law includes the mandatory death penalty which means that judges are not allowed to take into consideration possible mitigating circumstances at sentencing, including circumstances of the crime, background of the defendant or other factors relevant to the case.
“This is a punishment that Singapore’s neighbour Malaysia is in the process of fully abolishing to advance the protection of the right to life.”
Amnesty claimed that Singapore’s punitive drug policies have failed not only to tackle the use and availability of drugs in the country, but also failed to offer effective protection from drug-related harm.
The group also called for Singapore to establish an official moratorium on all executions and move towards full abolition.
Meanwhile, it reported that the execution took place despite a plea by the UN Human Rights Office for Singapore to “urgently reconsider” the hanging and calls by British tycoon Richard Branson to halt it.
The United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement yesterday: “The death penalty is still being used in a small number of countries, largely because of the myth that it deters crime.”
Branson, a member of the Geneva-based Global Commission on Drug Policy, wrote Monday on his blog that Tangaraju was “not anywhere near” the drugs at the time of his arrest and that Singapore may be about to put an innocent man to death.
Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry responded yesterday that Tangaraju’s guilt had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The ministry said two mobile phone numbers that prosecutors said belonged to him had been used to coordinate the delivery of the drugs.
In many parts of the world – including neighbouring Thailand – cannabis has been decriminalised, with authorities abandoning prison sentences, and rights groups have been heaping pressure on Singapore to abolish capital punishment.
The Asian financial hub has some of the world’s toughest anti-narcotics laws and insists the death penalty remains an effective deterrent against trafficking.
Tangaraju’s family pleaded for clemency while also pushing for a retrial.
Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years.
Among those hanged was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the UN and Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability. – The Vibes, April 26, 2023
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