Singapore executes woman for drug offence

 

The capital punishment imposed on Saridewi Djamani was carried out early today, making her the second woman to be executed for a drug offence in the republic in almost two decades.

Saridewi’s fate had received a lot of foreign media attention and outcry from human rights groups who viewed the republic’s capital punishment as harsh and inhumane.

The 45-year-old Singaporean is also the second person to be executed this week after 56-year-old Mohd Aziz Hussain met the same fate on Wednesday, also for a drug offence.

The Central Narcotics Bureau of Singapore (CNB) issued a statement today in response to media queries saying Saridewi was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process.

“Saridewi was convicted and sentenced to capital punishment on July 6, 2018. She appealed against her conviction and sentence, and the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal on Oct 6, 2022.

“Saridewi’s petition to the president for clemency was unsuccessful,” said the bureau.

The bureau explained she was convicted of having in her possession for the purpose of trafficking not less than 30.72gm of diamorphine, or pure heroin and that the Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine trafficked is more than 15gm.

“The 30.72gm of diamorphine is more than twice that amount, and is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 370 abusers for a week,” the statement said.

CNB said capital punishment is used only for the most serious crimes, such as the trafficking of significant quantities of drugs which cause very serious harm, not just to individual drug abusers, but also to their families and the wider society.

- Bernama