Singapore executes woman for drug offense in a 20-year first 

Singapore executed 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani by hanging on July 28, making Djamani the first woman to be executed by Singapore in the last 20 years, according to media reports from July 28.

Djamani had been found guilty of trafficking 30g of heroin in 2018 and was sentenced to death. She unsuccessfully appealed her sentence in October 2022. 

“She was accorded full due process under the law and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process,” the Central Narcotics Bureau said. “Capital punishment is used only for the most serious crimes, such as the trafficking of significant quantities of drugs which cause very serious harm, not just to individual drug abusers, but also to their families and the wider society.”

Djamani was the second person to be executed in Singapore this week over a drug offense, according to the BBC, as 57-year-old Mohd Aziz bin Hussain had been executed a few days prior. Aziz was hung for trafficking 50g of heroin in 2017.

Last year, Singapore executed 34-year-old Malaysian national Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam under drug offenses, which caused international outrage because it was assessed that Dharmalingam had an intellectual disability, according to CNN. 

Under Singapore’s laws, the death penalty can be imposed on anyone caught trafficking more than 500g of Cannabis or 15g of heroin.

Local media reported that Djamani hadn’t had the intention to sell the heroin, but was attempting to stock up for the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. However, she did admit to selling heroin and methamphetamine from her apartment in court, the BBC reported.

Condemnations of the execution

 "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," said Amnesty International's Chiara Sangiorgio in a statement.

"The only message that these executions send is that the government of Singapore is willing to once again defy international safeguards on the use of the death penalty," she said.