- A man was sentenced to death by hanging in Singapore after he was found with 2 pounds of cannabis.
- Omar Yacob Bamadhaj was convicted of bringing at least 2 pounds of cannabis into the country in 2018.
- His lawyers said there was doubt about whether he knowingly brought the drug into Singapore.
A man in Singapore was given the death penalty after authorities found him with 2 pounds of cannabis.
Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, was sentenced to death in February, and a court dismissed his appeal on Tuesday, Channel News Asia reported.
He was sentenced to death by hanging, the outlet said.
He was convicted of bringing at least 2 pounds of cannabis into Singapore in 2018. Authorities found 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 about whether he knowingly brought the drug 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 he’d said when he was arrested 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 hang him and his father if he refused to confess, Channel News Asia reported.
Singapore outlaws possession, consumption, and the importing and exporting of cannabis.
Singapore is known for its strict law enforcement, and human-rights groups have long been critical of Singapore’s use of the death penalty.
