
Chijioke was arrested on April 9th 2007 with
2,604.56 grammes of cannabis in Singapore. He was charged, found guilty and
sentenced to death in November 2008. Under Singaporean law, trafficking
more than 500 grammes of cannabis attracts the death penalty.
His execution has been scheduled for Friday November 18th except the president of the country pardons him...full report after the cut...
The family of Nigerian man on death row in Singapore for
possession of drugs, Chijioke Stephen Obioha said on Wednesday, that his
appeal for clemency has been rejected and he is set to be executed onFriday,
November 18.His execution has been scheduled for Friday November 18th except the president of the country pardons him...full report after the cut...
Amnesty International has
called on the Singapore government to immediately halt the execution
"The Singapore
government still has time to halt the execution of Chijoke Stephen
Obioha," the Human Rights agency said on Wednesday.
"We are dismayed that
clemency has not been granted in his case but remain hopeful that they won’t
carry out this cruel and irreversible punishment against a person sentenced to
the mandatory death penalty for a crime that should not even be punished by
death," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast
Asia and the Pacific.
"The death penalty is
never the solution. It will not rid Singapore of drugs. By executing people for
drug-related offences, which do not meet the threshold of most serious crimes,
Singapore is violating international law. Most of the world has turned its back
on this ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It is about time that
Singapore does the same, starting by restoring a moratorium on all executions
as a first step towards abolition of this punishment."
On April 9, 2007, Chijioke
Obioha, a University of Benin industrial Chemistry graduate was found in
possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of cannabis, surpassing the amount of 500
grams that triggers the automatic presumption of trafficking under Singapore
law.
His appeal against the conviction and sentence was rejected
in August 2010. After the rejection of his clemency appeal in April 2015, his
execution was set for May 15, 2015. The Court of Appeal later lifted the stay
of execution with effect from October 24, resulting in the execution date set
for November 18th.
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