Family of Singapore man due to be hanged over cannabis charge pleads for mercy
- Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death for conspiring to smuggle 1kg of cannabis; Singapore has some of world’s toughest anti-narcotics laws
- Family does not think he has had a fair trial, say there were loopholes in case, he was questioned without legal counsel, and never handled drugs
The family of a Singaporean man due to be hanged over a kilogram of cannabis pleaded for clemency from the authorities on Sunday and urged a retrial.
Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death in 2018 for conspiring to smuggle the drug and the Court of Appeal has upheld his sentence, expected to be carried out on Wednesday.
“We don’t think my brother’s had a fair trial … I have faith the president will read all our petitions,” his sister Leelavathy Suppiah told reporters in Tamil at a news conference.
“Since young, he’s been kind and well-liked by everyone, and he’s never done anything bad to anyone … he’s sacrificed everything to help his family,” she added, breaking down in tears.
It will be Singapore’s first execution in six months.
Tangaraju was convicted in 2017 of “abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic” 1,017.9 grams (35.9 ounces) of cannabis, twice the minimum amount that merits the death sentence under the city state’s tough drug laws.
In many parts of the world, including in neighbouring Thailand, cannabis has been decriminalised and rights groups have been mounting pressure on Singapore to abolish capital punishment.