Vietnam asked Indonesia to commute the death sentence imposed on a Vietnamese citizen for drug-trafficking, but her execution as part of the fight against drug-related crime in the region.
Tran Thi Bich Hanh was one of six people executed by firing quad at the weekend in Indonesia for drug smuggling.
“Vietnam has always strictly punished drug trafficking and has joined hands with other countries in preventing and fighting drug-related crimes," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh at a press conference held in Hanoi on January 18.
He said Hanh was arrested in Indonesia in June 2011. She was sentenced to death in November that year. Vietnamese diplomatic agencies had sought commutation of the death sentence imposed on Hanh for humanitarian reasons.
“Vietnamese agencies took all necessary steps to safeguard the rights of a Vietnamese citizen in this case,” Binh said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said on January 18 that Vietnamese agencies took all necessary steps to safeguard the rights of a Vietnamese citizen in this case.
Hanh, 37, was arrested at Adi Soemarmo in Boyolali and found to be carrying 1.1kg of methamphetamine, worth about USD175,000, in her body. She was executed by firing squad at Boyolali, Central Java, on Sunday along with five other convicted drug traffickers.
A spokesman for Indonesia's Office of the Attorney General, Tony Spontana, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying Hanh had requested she not be handcuffed while the death sentence was carried out.
Under Vietnam law, a person convicted of storing, transporting or smuggling drugs in solid form of more than 300g or liquid form of at least 750ml may be sentenced to a minimum 20-years' imprisonment, or death.
