A 45-year-old Singaporean woman, Saridewi Binte Djamani, was executed via hanging on 28 July for her offence of possessing 30.72 grams of heroin for drug trafficking.

The Central Narcotic Bureau (CNB) said in a statement that she was given full due process under the law and was represented by legal counsel throughout her trial, where she was convicted and sentenced on 6 July 2018, before she appealed unsuccessfully on 6 October 2022.

Her petition to the President for clemency was also unsuccessful.

Her execution makes her the first woman to be executed since 2004, when 36-year-old Yen May Woen was hanged on 19 March 2004 for having 30.16 grams of heroin for trafficking.

CNB’s statement

Statement in Response to Media Queries

28 Jul 2023

1. The capital sentence of death imposed on Saridewi Binte Djamani (“Saridewi”) was carried out on 28 July 2023.

2. Saridewi, a 45-year-old Singaporean, was convicted of having in her possession for the purpose of trafficking, not less than 30.72 grammes of diamorphine, or pure heroin (i.e. six packets and seven straws of gross weight not less than 1,084.37 grammes).

3. The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of diamorphine trafficked is more than 15 grammes. 30.72 grammes of diamorphine is more than twice that amount, and is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 370 abusers for a week.

4. Saridewi was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process:

a. Saridewi was convicted and sentenced to capital punishment on 6 July 2018.

b. She appealed against her conviction and sentence, and the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal on 6 October 2022.

5. Saridewi’s petition to the President for clemency was unsuccessful.

6. 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. Capital punishment is part of Singapore’s comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply.

Central Narcotics Bureau
28 July 2023