The British billionaire Richard Branson asked Singapore on Monday not to proceed with the execution of a man sentenced to death for smuggling a kilo of cannabis, underlining that the city-state in question “may be preparing to kill an innocent”.

The execution by hanging of Singaporean Thangarazu Supiah, 46, is set to take place tomorrow, Wednesday, according to Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).

Supiah was sentenced to death in 2018 for his involvement in the smuggling of 1.01 kilograms of cannabis, twice the amount punishable by death in Singapore, one of the world’s harshest punishments for Drugs.

“Thangarazu was actually nowhere near these drugs at the time of his arrest. It’s largely a case based on assumptions,” Branson, who is a member of the Geneva-based Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), wrote on his blog.

“Killing those at the lowest levels of the illegal drug supply chain (…) is not at all effective in stopping an international trade that represents hundreds of billions every year,” he said, adding that he hoped the authorities would re-examine the case .

Yesterday, Sunday, Tankarazu Supiah’s family also asked the authorities to show leniency, as well as a new trial.

Branson, human rights advocates and family members say Thangarazu Supiah he never got his hands on it the cannabis for which he was convicted and they report loopholes in the case against him.

In numerous countries, including neighboring Thailand, the use of cannabis is no longer a crime.

But Singapore considers the death penalty to remain an effective deterrent against smuggling. The country has not carried out an execution for six months.

Singapore resumed executions last year in March after a more than two-year hiatus. Eleven convicts were executed last year, all for drug cases.