Singapore set to execute woman for drug trafficking, first in nearly 20 years

Singapore is set to execute a woman for drug trafficking, a first in nearly 20 years, on Friday (July 28) triggering renewed calls for an end to capital punishment in the city-state. This comes close on the heels of execution of a man on drug charges on Wednesday (July 26).

Mohammed Aziz Hussain, 56, was hanged at Changi Prison and has been buried, said activist Kirsten Han of Transformative Justice Collective, which seeks to abolish the death penalty in Singapore. A Singaporean citizen, he was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin.

Saridewi Djamani, a 45-year-old Singaporean woman, is to be hanged on Friday after she was convicted and sentenced in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams (1.05 ounces) of heroin.

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One execution every month

Local media reported that she testified during her trial that she was stocking up on heroin for personal use during the Islamic fasting month.

While she did not deny selling drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine from her flat, she downplayed the scale of those activities, noted judge See Kee Oon.

The last woman known to have been hanged in Singapore was hairdresser Yen May Woen, also for drug trafficking, in 2004.

In April, another Singaporean, Tangaraju Suppiah, was executed for trafficking 1 kg of cannabis that he never touched. Authorities say he co-ordinated the sale via mobile phone.

Inclusive of Djamani, Singapore will have executed 15 people for drug offences since it resumed hangings in March 2022, an average of one execution every month, rights groups say.

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Stringent anti-drug laws

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, which it says are necessary to protect society. Citizens and foreigners alike convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin face the mandatory death penalty.

Authorities say that strict drug laws help keep Singapore as one of the safest places in the world and that capital punishment for drug offences enjoys wide public support. But anti-death penalty advocates say executing prisoners had no impact on the use and availability of drugs.

Amnesty International says that alongside China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Singapore is one of only four countries to have recently carried out drug-related executions.

(With agency inputs)