Man is said to be hanged in Singapore for importing about two pounds of pot

A man who imported one kilogram of cannabis (about 2.2 pounds) from Malaysia to Singapore in 2018 is said to be hanged after his appeal against the conviction and verdict was dismissed by the Apex Court on Tuesday, October 12.

Channel News Asia reports that 41-year-old Singaporean Omar Yacob Bamadhaj was sentenced to death in February after being convicted of importing cannabis into Singapore. Bamadhaj was caught smuggling three bundles of at least one kilogram of cannabis.

The country’s zero tolerance policy towards drugs has resulted in the hanging of hundreds of people, including dozens of foreigners.

During a routine border control at Woodlands Checkpoint late at night on July 12, 2018, police discovered the bundles Bamadhaj was carrying. His father drove the vehicle but was unaware of the cannabis bundles.

The alleged crime

Bamadhaj agreed to smuggle cannabis – a Class A drug in Singapore – two days earlier, on July 10, 2018, and a day later picked up three newspaper-wrapped bundles near a mosque. Bamadhaj is said to have received the packages from two friends, Din and Latif. Bamadhaj first said he agreed to deliver the packages and then said he did not know what they contained.

When asked why there were differences in his reports, Bamadhaj allegedly replied, “I said that because I was not in the right state of mind. I felt high from the stick I smoked with Din. For me, high is like being half unconscious. “

On Tuesday, Bamadhaj’s attorney Hassan Esa Almenoar said there were reasonable doubts as to whether Bamadhaj knowingly imported the drugs or not.

Bamadhaj argued that officials at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) forced him to admit the crime and threatened him with the words, “If you refuse to admit this, you and your father will be hanged.”

Tourists who smoke cannabis could experience a bit of a culture war if they visit Singapore – a known intolerant country with penalties for drugs that range to death by hanging. Singapore imposes corporal and death sentences on foreigners – beyond what other drug-free countries do.

In 2016, a Nigerian named Chijioke Obioha was hanged in Singapore for possession of 2.6 kilograms of cannabis.

Singapore and cannabis

Some countries in Asia are exceptionally intolerant when it comes to medicines. In 2014, Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee spent six months of hard time in prison after being arrested in China with 100 grams of cannabis. But Singapore’s penalties for drugs make China’s penalties look like a no-brainer.

In Singapore, you can be jailed for not flushing the toilet. Business Insider published an article in 2012 entitled How to Travel in Singapore Without Getting Caned. It listed other serious “crimes” in Singapore, including selling chewing gum or drinking water on a train. Or being too close to a child. One graffiti vandalist, Mas Selamat bin Kastari, for example, was hit with a “terror plan” for political stencil graffiti.

Singapore is one of the worst places on the planet to get caught in the pot. Courts in Singapore can impose the death penalty on anyone caught with more than 500 grams of cannabis – around 1,000 joints.

Singapore is also reluctant to punish foreigners if they are caught using drugs, unlike other drug-free countries like Saudi Arabia or China. In these countries, a foreigner caught with drugs would most likely be deported instead.

Singapore doesn’t even need evidence of drug possession to put a foreigner in jail. Singapore could be the only country in the world that mandates drug tests on foreigners and then arrests anyone who fails the test.