Singapore to resume executions after 6-month break

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Singaporean man is scheduled to be hanged next week for abetting an attempt to smuggle cannabis into the island-state, in a resumption of executions after a half-year pause, activists said Thursday.

The family of Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was notified in a letter that he would be executed next Wednesday, anti-death penalty activist Kokila Annamalai said.

Tangaraju was detained in 2014 for drug consumption and failure to report for a drug test, according to another activist, Kirsten Han.

He was later linked to two drug traffickers through a phone number used to coordinate the delivery of cannabis.

The High Court found Tangaraju guilty of conspiring to traffic 1 kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of cannabis and sentenced him to mandatory death in 2018, Han said.

“The last execution carried out in Singapore was in October 2022.

Death row prisoners, their family members and abolitionists have been holding our breath for the past six months, terrified of when the killing spree will begin again. We will fight for Tangaraju till the end,” Annamalai said.

Singapore, which has harsh drug laws, executed 11 people last year for drug offences.

The hanging of one particular Malaysian sparked an international outcry because he was believed to be mentally disabled.

It brought the country's capital punishment under deeper scrutiny, with rights groups slamming it as a blatant flouting of international human rights norms.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.