UN urges Singapore to halt execution over drug offence

The United Nations Human Rights Office pressed Singapore yesterday to "urgently reconsider" its scheduled execution of a man over one kilogram of cannabis.

Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, is set to be hanged on today after he was convicted of conspiracy to traffic 1,017.9 grams (35.9 ounces) of cannabis, twice the amount that merits the death sentence in the city-state.

It would be Singapore's first execution in six months and the 12th since last year.

The Asian financial hub has some of the world's toughest anti-drug laws and insists the death penalty remains an effective deterrent against trafficking.