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Woman executed for drugs offence in Singapore

Amnesty International has condemned the execution of a woman in Singapore for a drug-trafficking offence.

Singaporean national Saridewi Djamani is believed to be the first woman in almost 20 years to have been executed in the country.

She was found guilty of possession of around 30 grams of diamorphine (heroin) for the purposes of trafficking. A Singaporean Malay man, Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, was executed earlier this week for a similar offence.

Amnesty International’s death-penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said that this week’s events had cast “a harsh and tragic spotlight” on the complete lack of death-penalty reform in Singapore.

“As most of the world turns its back on this cruel punishment, Singapore’s government continues down the path of executing people for drug-related crimes, violating international human-rights law and standards,” she stated.

‘Irreversible trend’

Sangiorgio added that there was no evidence that the death penalty had a unique deterrent effect, or that it had any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

Amnesty is calling on governments, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to increase pressure on Singapore to end its “highly punitive” approach to drug-control policies.

The organisation also pointed out that the executions came in the same week that Ghana had abolished the death penalty, a move it described as part of an “irreversible” global trend to do away with the punishment.

According to Amnesty, Singapore has now executed 15 people for drug-related offences since 30 March 2022, when executions resumed after a hiatus of two years.