Singapore: Singapore has reportedly executed a 45-year-old woman who was found guilty of trafficking 30 grammes (1.06oz) of heroin in 2018. The execution is the first in almost 20 years, as per the officials.
Ms. Saridewi Binte Djamani is the second drug convict executed this week. Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, which it says are necessary to protect society, as per the statement. The law specifies that the death penalty will be imposed on anyone caught trafficking more than 500 grammes of cannabis or 15 grammes of heroin.
Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said that Ms. Saridewi, who was sentenced to death on 6th July 2018, was accorded “full due process” under the law.
The authorities stated that the city’s highest court dismissed the appeal against her conviction last year. A petition for a presidential pardon was also unsuccessful. Singapore has hanged 15 people, including foreigners, for drug-related offences since March 2022. The country last executed a woman in 2004 for drug trafficking.
Other countries and anti-death penalty advocates have contested Singapore for its tough laws, but the national authorities argue that strict drug laws help keep Singapore one of the safest places in the world and that capital punishment for drug offences enjoys wide public support.
Amnesty International, a Non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, remarked that, “We call on the international community, particularly States who have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, to help halt this inhumane, ineffective and discriminatory practice in Singapore.”
KNOWLEDGE | Vital system of ocean currents to face imminent collapse; Study
