On Wednesday, Tangaraju Suppiah, a 46-year-old man of Indian descent who was involved in drug trafficking, was executed in Singapore despite appeals for clemency from his family, human rights activists, and the United Nations. After his last-minute appeal was dismissed by a court, he was hanged at Changi Prison. Tangaraju was convicted in 2018 of aiding an accomplice in the trafficking of cannabis. His case was supported by British billionaire Richard Branson and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as by calls from the EU, Norway, and Switzerland for his sentence to be commuted to a non-capital punishment.
Despite this, a Singaporean court denied Tangaraju's request for a case review and stay of execution. In his final attempt, Tangaraju argued that the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he and his accomplice had agreed to traffic a specific amount of cannabis. The Central Narcotics Bureau defended capital punishment, stating that it is reserved for "the most serious crimes," including drug trafficking of significant quantities that harm individuals, families, and society as a whole. The Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs criticized Branson's opinion, saying it demonstrated disrespect for the country's judiciary and criminal justice system.
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