SINGAPORE: Australian may face up to 20 years in prison and caned 15 strokes for drug charges, Nigerian faces execution for drug trafficking.

Record ID: 317963

  • Title: SINGAPORE: Australian may face up to 20 years in prison and caned 15 strokes for drug charges, Nigerian faces execution for drug trafficking.
  • Date: 25th January 2007
  • Summary: SPEAKER'S CORNER IN SINGAPORE THREE DEATH PENALTY ACTIVISTS STRIKING/ STANDING NEAR WALL VARIOUS OF M.RAVI, EX LAWYER AND DEATH PENALTY ACTIVIST ON STRIKE (SOUNDBITE) (English) M.RAVI EX LAWYER AND DEATH PENALTY ACTIVIST SAYING: "We have from the court's records, we can see that Tochi is innocent, even the courts have said that he does not have knowledge of this trafficking of these drugs, so given this situation it is completely unimaginable why this execution, which is completely useless, is taking place." MORE OF STRIKE
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Singapore
  • Country: Singapore
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAA34YDXQHE0LI8K5C9TKCXOA0I
  • Story Text: An Australian appeared at Singapore's subordinate court on Thursday (January 25) after he was arrested for allegedly possessing cannabis.
    A Nigerian will also be executed in Singapore on Friday (January 26) for drug trafficking.
    Thirty-eight-year-old Adelaide resident Michael Karras was arrested on January 9 for allegedly carrying 495 grammes of cannabis. Singapore exercises the death penalty for possessing 500 grammes of drugs.
    If convicted, Karras could face a maximum 20 years or 15 strokes of the cane.
    "At the moment he has two charges. One for trafficking cannabis mixture and another for trafficking pure cannabis. Each charge carries a minimum prison term of 5 year prison term and 5 strokes of the cane and maximum of 20 years and 15 strokes of the cane," said lawyer S.S. Dhillon.
    Australian officials are providing consular assistance to Karras and his family.
    To protest Singapore's drug laws, ex-lawyer and death penalty activist M. Ravi and a few other human rights activists started a one-day hunger strike in Singapore to protest the execution of Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, a 21-year-old Nigerian national, for trafficking heroin.
    The execution is scheduled to be held at 6 a.m. on Friday (January 26).
    Tochi arrived in Singapore in November 2004 with the hopes of playing football with the Singapore League. Instead, he was arrested at Changi Airport with 727 grammes of heroin.
    According to Ravi, Tochi was not aware he had heroin in his bag, claiming that he thought he was just bringing medicine to a sick friend.
    "We have from the court's records, we can see that Tochi is innocent, even the courts have said that he does not have knowledge of this trafficking of these drugs, so given this situation it is completely unimaginable why this execution, which is completely useless, is taking place," says M. Ravi.
    However, the court believes that Tochi should not have been foolish to travel with unknown substances to him, saying that it should have been obvious.
    M. Ravi received a letter from Tochi on January 23, in which he sent his best wishes to Ravi and also wishing for a reaction from his country.
    Singapore's Prime Minster, Lee Hsien Loong, received that letter from Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday (January 23) in which he asked the Singapore government to pardon Tochi.
    The drugs were estimated by the authorities to have a street value of $970,000.
    M. Ravi and the human rights activists will head towards Changi Prison at 7 p.m. on Thursday (January 25) and continue the strike until the hour of the execution, which is scheduled at 6 a.m. on Friday (January 26).
    In 2005, Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged after being convicted of trafficking heroin, despite pleas for his life from Australian Prime Minister John Howard and international human rights groups.
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