Singapore Executes Woman For Heroin Possession: Why Do Punitive Drug Approaches Persist Worldwide?

On July 28, 2023 the Singapore law enforcement authority hanged 45-year-old Saridewi Binte Djamani following a “drug trafficking” charge. She was found possessing a little over 30 grams of heroin back in 2018. 

The decision makes the first time the Lion City executes a woman in almost 20 years, following 36-year-old Yen May Woen who was hanged in 2004 under the same charge, activists found.

But drug-related offenses have instigated other executions closer in time, as shown in a May execution on cannabis-trafficking grounds. And, just this week, 57-year-old citizen Mohd Aziz bin Hussain was also hanged for the charge of trafficking 50 grams of heroin.

The Central Narcotics Bureau said Djamani was “fully due” processed under the existing law and that she was allowed to access legal counsel throughout.

Specialized journalist and activist Kirsten Han had warned that once she exhausted her appeal options, “it was a matter of time that she would be given an execution notice.”

She says authorities don’t contemplate the fact that most of the people on death row, such as Djamani was, come from marginalized and vulnerable contexts -aka, minorities. This was also noted by UN specialists following the conviction and execution of a Malaysian national.

Is Death Penalty For Drug Offenses Against International Law?

Human rights groups have heavily questioned and protested against the procedure. Amnesty International contends that Singapore’s use of the death penalty for drug offenses is against international law and calls on the international community to help halt the “inhumane, ineffective and discriminatory practice.”

As Amnesty’s Chiara Sangiorgio put it, “There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs. As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither.” 

Local advocacy group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) tracks death row cases. The group said Saridewi had argued that she had not been able to give accurate statements to the police due to drug withdrawal. But the high court judge found she had “at most” been suffering from mild to moderate meth withdrawal during the statement-taking period, and that it had not impaired her ability to state.

The government defends the death penalty as an effective deterrent to drug crimes, promoting safety and reaffirming citizens' support for the approach. Nonetheless, in Sept. 2022 Law Minister K. Shanmugam recognized that Singapore’s harsh policy on drugs is not resulting in the arrest of the so-called ‘Kingpins’. 

TJC found Singapore has hanged 15 people for drug-related offenses since March 2022, after a COVID-19 pandemic hiatus. Its harsh drug laws like those of states like China and North Korea.

Photo by Jisun Han on Unsplash