A family representative said on Wednesday that Singapore executed a drug trafficker despite their pleas for compassion and protesters’ objections.
Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death in the famously tight city-state of Singapore in 2013 for assisting in the trafficking of more than 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis.
Suppiah’s family attorney, Kokila Annamalai, who is based in Singapore, confirmed his death by hanging after the president declined last-minute mercy petitions.
According to British entrepreneur and prominent opponent of the death penalty Richard Branson, the judgment against Suppiah did not meet the conditions for criminal conviction since Suppiah was not personally present when the drugs were found.
Government authorities replied by labeling Branson’s assertions “patently untrue” and accusing him of disrespecting their judicial system by distributing false information.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also asked Singapore to “adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offenses” and to cancel the execution.
The death penalty is supported by the majority of Singaporeans, and the government executed eleven people for drug-related charges last year.
