Even those who agree with the death penalty should worry about Tangaraju Suppiah’s looming execution: Activist

SINGAPORE: Amid the growing concern over the planned execution of Tangaraju Suppiah next week, Singaporean anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han has argued that even those who support capital punishment should worry about Mr Tangaraju’s case.

In a Facebook post published on Saturday (22 Apr), Ms Han said that Mr Tangaraju never possessed the cannabis in question, and the case against him was largely based on circumstantial evidence.

His connection to the crime was made through phone numbers that others arrested before him claimed was his. However, at the time, Mr Tangaraju was already in remand for a separate offence, and his mobile phones were never recovered for analysis.

Ms Han added that there is no evidence that Suppiah knew the weight of the cannabis being transported. Despite this, the prosecution charged him with around 1kg of cannabis, which exceeds the mandatory death penalty threshold.

Meanwhile, the person caught possessing the cannabis was charged with “not less than 499.99g”, which is 0.01g below the mandatory death penalty threshold. Others linked to the case were given discharges not amounting to acquittals.

Activists like Ms Han have pointed out that Mr Tangaraju was also interrogated without a lawyer and was allegedly denied his request to have a Tamil interpreter present during interrogations. Ms Han said:

“He said that this meant he struggled to properly understand the investigating officer’s questions, as well as understand the recorded statement when it was read back to him. This means he would have struggled to clarify or make amendments to the statement before signing off on it. Yet these are the statements used in court against an accused person.”

Mr Tangaraju’s case has sparked a debate about using the death penalty in Singapore and the fairness of the country’s justice system. With his execution looming, many call for a review of his case and reconsidering Singapore’s approach to drug offences.

Family and friends of Mr Tangaraju will be holding a solidarity event today (April 23) to speak up about the alarming aspects of his case. Those who wish to support the desperate family’s fight may join the event from 2 pm to 5 pm at 10 Penang Road, #01-02. More information on the event may be found here.

Activists set to hand-deliver clemency appeals to Istana, urging President Halimah to spare Tangaraju’s life