Singapore executes a woman for first time in almost two decades

Singapore: Singapore has hanged a woman for the first time in almost 20 years after she is convicted of drug trafficking, which is a serious crime in the nation.

The 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani was executed early on Friday after convicted in 2018 for possession of 30g of heroin, The Guardian reported.

The last woman to face gallows was a 36-year-old hairdresser, Yen May Woen in 2004 for drug trafficking.

Rights group fiercely protested against the death penalty meted out to Saridewi Djamani, which however did not make any difference.

Saridewi argued in the court that she could not give ‘accurate statement’ to the police as she was still suffering from drug withdrawal.

A high court however rejected her claim saying that she was having a ‘mild to moderate methamphetamine withdrawal’ at the time.

Saridewi is the second person to die so this week and 15 th after government restarted executions in March 2022.

The other person to have executed this week on Wednesday was a 56-year-old Singaporean Malay man, Mohd Aziz bin Hussain for drug crimes.

Singapore continues to execute people for crimes that will attract only jail term in many nations.

Given this, international agencies including the Global Commission on Drug Policy, the International Federation for Human Rights and Amnesty International had appealed to the country to stop the execution.

However, Singapore authorities termed death penalty as an ‘effective’ tool to prevent drug-related crimes, claiming that the capital punishment keep the city safe.

The Transformative Justice Collective, a group that calls for remove to nation’s criminal justice system, claimed that authorities have served notice to another convict to execute on Thursday next week after his appeal was dismissed last year.

The former delivery driver was convicted in 2019 for trafficking 50g of heroin.