Singapore executed a prisoner convicted of smuggling 1.5 kilos of marijuana this Wednesday., three weeks after another man was hanged in the city-state for attempted marijuana smuggling. The execution of the 37-year-old Singaporean prisoner of Malay ethnicity took place today at Changi Island Prison, according to the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) NGO. .
In this case, the prisoner’s relatives chose not to reveal their identities or contact the press after receiving one week’s notice of execution last Wednesday, the usual protocol for executions in the Asian city-state using hanging. A lawyer had asked the courts to reopen the case the day before, but the request was denied by an island court. His defense argued that DNA and fingerprint evidence linked him to a stash of less than 1.5 kilograms for which he was sentenced to death.
Singapore exists one of the cruelest drug laws in the world and considering the death penalty for smuggling at least 500 grams of cannabis.
The execution came three weeks after the city-state’s first execution of the year, Tangaraju Suppiah, a Singaporean of Tamil descent, was executed on April 26. His execution was described as “scandalous” by human rights organizations, and the UN asked Singapore to halt the execution amid doubts about the guarantees of due process, as the man’s lawyers and relatives confirmed he had never touched or seen the drug they were accused of. plot for traffic
Singapore broke a record last year after taking a two-year hiatus from executions due to the Covid-19 outbreak hang eleven prisoners in a few monthsincluding an intellectually disabled heroin dealer whose sentence has drawn criticism from the international community.