Singapore hangs second man in three weeks on cannabis-related allegations

For the second time in three weeks, Singapore officials have executed a man by hanging on a nonviolent cannabis-related charge. Critics call this a “rampage”.

A 37-year-old Malay man in Singapore, whose family asked not to give his name, was executed at the Changi prison complex in the east of the city for allegedly trafficking 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis. This would be considered commercial delivery in any of the legal US markets.

He was executed despite a last-minute attempt to appeal his case, which was dismissed by the court without a hearing. Al Jazeera reports that officials in Singapore hanged 11 people last year – all for drug-related offenses – after a brief lull in killing during the COVID pandemic.

Just over a pound of marijuana requires the death penalty: Under Singapore’s unusually strict drug laws, trafficking in more than 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of cannabis is punishable by the death penalty. “Drug traffickers will deal less in drugs and reduce the volume of drugs trafficked if they are aware of the penalties involved,” the Singapore Ministry of Interior (MHA) claims, citing the use of the death penalty by hanging.

Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective said she was convicted of trafficking around 1.5 kilograms of cannabis in 2019.

“Unless we work together to put an end to this, we fear this rampage will continue in the coming weeks and months,” Annamalai told The Associated Press.

According to the man, authorities lied about the amount of cannabis it was in and that it was actually a smaller amount than they claimed. The man appealed to have the case reopened based on DNA evidence and fingerprints linking him to a much smaller amount of marijuana – which he admitted possessing – but the court denied.

Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was executed at dawn on April 26, in defiance of a growing number of anti-death penalty activists campaigning for an end to the country’s cruel use of the death penalty.

Tangaraju was originally sentenced to death on October 9, 2018 for attempting to smuggle more than a kilogram of cannabis into Singapore. He was originally arrested in 2014 for drug use and failing to show up for a drug test.

Tangaraju was also being held at Changi Prison Complex in Singapore.

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, and a group of world leaders have called for action in what they say is a disturbing case of a potentially innocent man.

The hanging took place in a country where people are punished for caning for marking walls and are punished much more severely than in the US

Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with learning disabilities, was executed for drug-related offenses last year, but his case sparked protests, a rarity in Singapore. Over the years, Singapore has struggled with “malayophobia,” another factor that complicates cases like this.

In a March report, Harm Reduction International (HRI) found that despite a global trend towards abolition of the death penalty, there were at least 285 executions for drug-related offenses last year, more than double the year before.

Singapore isn’t the only country using medieval penalties for drugs. HRI reminds readers that China, Vietnam and North Korea also execute people for nonviolent drug crimes.