Singapore is scheduled to execute a woman this week for the first time in almost two decades, prompting renewed calls for a halt to capital punishment in the Asian country.
Saridewi Djamani, 45, a country national, was found guilty of trafficking 30g of heroin in 2018 and will be hanged on Friday, human rights groups are reporting.
Trafficking more than 15 grams (less than 1 ounce) of heroin or more than 544 grams (1.2 pounds) of marijuana is grounds for the death penalty, under Singaporean law.
Kirsten Han, with Transformative Justice Collective, a non-profit which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore, said the last known woman hanged in Singapore was hairdresser Yen May Woen in 2004.
Djamani’s pending execution will come less than 48 hours after the country executed another person: 56-year-old Mohammed Aziz Hussain was hanged at Singapore’s Changi Prison, Han told the Associated Press this week.
Hussain was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 50 grams of heroin, Han said.
Live updates:Ex-US Marine Trevor Reed freed by Russia in prisoner swap wounded in Ukraine
An earlier execution this year
In April, the country also executed a 46-year-old man after he was accused of coordinating a roughly two-pound marijuana delivery, despite pleas for clemency and protests that he was convicted on weak evidence.
Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged during the early morning hours of April 26 in Changi Prison, Singapore Prison Service said.
At the time, Suppiah’s death marked Singapore’s first execution in six months.
Pet store killings in Oklahoma:Pair accused of stomping hamster to death, killing bunny at Petland identified by police
‘A deterrent effect’
The country executed 11 people last year for drug offenses. One case involved a Malaysian man with mental illness, according to his lawyers.
Singapore authorities say there is a deterrent effect of the death penalty, citing studies that traffickers carry amounts below the threshold that would bring a death penalty.
Death penalty imposition for drugs in Singapore varies drastically from nearby countries. In Thailand, cannabis has essentially been legalized, and Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.
Contributing: Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
