Singapore Carries Out Drug Execution

One country that doesn’t have a drug problem is Singapore, which recently carried out the execution of a woman for heroin trafficking.

Saridewi Djamani, 45, was sentenced to death by hanging after being caught with 31 grams of heroin, a quantity the Central Narcotics Bureau said was enough to sustain the addiction of about 370 users for a week. It was the first time a female was executed in the Southeast Asia nation in over two decades.

Another convicted drug dealer, Mohammed Aziz Hussain, 56, was also executed for selling about 50 grams of heroin. A third trafficker is slated for execution following Hussain.

The country’s law mandates capital punishment for anyone convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or 15 grams of heroin.

File Photo

The narcotics bureau noted that Djamani and Hussain were given due process, which included appeals of their conviction and sentence, and a petition for clemency. The previous execution of a woman in Singapore was in 2004 when a 36-year-old hairdresser, Yen May Woen, was executed for drug trafficking, according to news reports.

Human rights organizations, activists, and the United Nations have repeatedly urged Singapore to abolish the executions, arguing capital punishment does not deter illegal drug activity. Singapore authorities, however, maintain that the death sentences play a crucial role in curbing drug supply and demand.