Singapore | Man given death penalty for carrying 2 pounds of cannabis

Omar Yacob Bamadhaj was convicted of bringing at least two pounds of cannabis into the country.

A man in Singapore was given the death penalty after authorities found him with two pounds of cannabis.

Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, was first sentenced to death in February, and his appeal was overturned by a court on Tuesday, Channel News Asia reported.

He was sentenced to death by hanging, the outlet said.

He was convicted of bringing at least two pounds of cannabis into Singapore in 2018 after he was found with it wrapped in foil and newspaper in the trunk of the car he was in while his dad was driving, the report said.

His lawyers said there was doubt over whether he knowingly brought the drugs into the city state. Bamadhaj argued in court that he didn't know what was in the trunk, and that other people had put it there without him knowing, according to Channel News Asia.

But when he was first arrested, he had said that his acquaintances had convinced him to bring the substance into Singapore, and that he didn't want to do it but needed the money, the report said.

He also argued at one point that drug enforcement officers had "coerced" him into an admission, saying an officer had threatened to punish both him and his father with a hanging if he refused to confess, Channel News Asia reported.

Possession, consumption, and the importing and exporting of cannabis is illegal in Singapore.

Singapore is known for its strict law enforcement, and human rights groups have long been critical of Singapore's use of the death penalty.

Source: Insider, Sinéad Baker, October 14, 2021

Man to Be Hanged for Bringing Bundles of Pot Into Singapore

Appeal that centered on claiming confession was coerced was dismissed Tuesday

A man in Singapore is going to be hanged for bringing three bundles of cannabis into the country.

Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, lost an appeal Tuesday of a sentence handed down in February.

In July 2018, Bamadhaj had hopped across the border from the tiny city-state into Malaysia to run errands and go to a mosque with his father.

While there, he ran into some acquaintances at a car wash who gave him 3 bundles wrapped in newspaper, plastic wrap, and foil. How that went down is where the trouble lies.

In his appeal, Bamadhaj said he in fact did not know the bundles contained about a kilogram of cannabis, which is very illegal in Singapore, but he initially confessed when the police first questioned him, Channel News Asia reports.

Later, he said his acquaintances put the bundles into his car without his knowledge.

Police pulled the car over shortly after midnight. His dad, who was driving, was off the hook; police believed him when he said he had no idea there was cannabis in the car.

Bamadhaj told police that he had been offered 500 Singapore dollars per bundle to carry the drugs into the city-state, that he thought about it for 20 minutes before agreeing, and said he was “desperate for money.” But he retracted the confession 5 days later.

In his appeal, he said the Central Narcotics Bureau officers coerced him. He said they threatened to hang both him and his father. He said he had been high when he said those things.

Amnesty International condemned the decision to dismiss Bamadhaj’s appeal.

“Singapore authorities have violated international safeguards and sentenced yet another person convicted of drug trafficking to death by hanging,” Chiara Sangiorgio, a death penalty advisor for the NGO said per Vice. Just last year, another Singaporean was sentenced to die by hanging in a drug case—via a Zoom call. Singapore’s residents apparently feel the draconian laws make it one of the safest places in the world.

Source: newser.com, Staff, October 14, 2021

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