A 41-year-old man from Singapore, who was caught in 2018, will be hanged for smuggling two pounds of weed in a car.
In February, Omar Yacob Bamadhaj was sentenced to death by hanging, but an appeal was made against his conviction and death sentence for drug trafficking that was dismissed by a court last week.
In 2018, Bamadhaj was nabbed by cops while bringing cannabis from Malaysia to Singapore, reported The Independent. His father was driving the car, but he did not know about carrying cannabis, which is a Class A drug in Singapore, which means that its possession, importing and exporting and consumption, are strictly prohibited there.
Cops asked Bamadhaj about the weed in the boot, and he said that it was "plants for herbs," but he could not fool them, according to Daily Star.
He pleaded his innocence at trial, and said in court that he didn't know what was inside the packages and explained that two acquaintances had put the drugs there. However, on the day of his arrest, he gave a statement to cops, according to which Bamadhaj allegedly admitted to knowing what the packages were, and said that he didn't want to do it and was "desperate for money."
Bamadhaj had pre-ordered the cannabis to a mosque in Malaysia and picked them up when he and his father drove out of Singapore to attend evening prayers and buy groceries, said prosecutors.
His lawyers argued last week that there were doubts as it was "difficult to conclude that he planned all this". He also said that narcotics officers forced him to confess that day, and alleged that the cops said, "If you refuse to admit to this, I will throw both you and your father to be hanged." He waited almost a week to take back the confession, and he had interacted with two different cops, pointed out the judge. Then the Court of Appeal dismissed the case, which was not received well by some.
Amnesty International's death penalty advisor, Chiara Sangiorgio, said, “By dismissing Omar Yacob Bamadhaj’s appeal, the Singapore authorities have violated international safeguards and sentenced yet another person convicted of drug trafficking to death by hanging."
