New Delhi: A 36-year-old woman from Malaysia will be executed by hanging in Singapore on Friday for smuggling heroin into the city-state, according to her lawyer.
The woman, who was not named, was arrested in 2017 at the Woodlands checkpoint with 1.5 kilograms of heroin hidden in a backpack. She was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death by the High Court in 2019.
Her lawyer, M. Ravi, said that he had filed a last-minute appeal to the Court of Appeal on Thursday, seeking to stay the execution and review the case. He argued that the woman was a victim of human trafficking and coercion and that she had been misled by a syndicate into carrying the drugs.
He also said that the woman had a history of mental illness and depression and that she had attempted suicide several times in prison. He claimed that she was not given adequate medical and psychological care by the authorities.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and upheld the death sentence, saying that there was no merit in his arguments. The court also said that the woman had failed to raise these issues during her trial and earlier appeals.
Singapore has a strict anti-drug policy and imposes the mandatory death penalty for anyone caught with more than 15 grams of heroin. According to Amnesty International, Singapore executed four people for drug offenses in 2020, three of whom were foreigners.
The human rights group has condemned the execution of the woman, calling it a “cruel and irreversible punishment” that violates international law and standards. It has urged Singapore to abolish the death penalty and adopt alternative measures to combat drug trafficking.
