Kenyan woman's death penalty commuted to life sentence in Vietnam
Macharia Margaret Nduta, 37, had initially been sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking.
What you need to know:
- Nduta’ s case gained attention especially after reports he was underrepresented in court.
- Dozens of Kenyans are languishing in jails in Asia having been convicted for various crimes.
Margaret Nduta Macharia, the Kenyan who had been sentenced to death in Vietnam will live, after the Supreme Court sitting in Hoh Chi Minh City commuted the penalty to life in jail.
The decision came after she appealed the sentence handed down to hear in March. And the verdict on Thursday, a final judicial decision, means she can spend the rest of her life in jail but will have a chance for clemency whose powers are vested in the Vietnamese President.
Nonetheless, this decision is a reprieve to a woman and her anguished family in Kenya who had appealed to the Kenyan government to intervene.
Nduta was caught with 2 kilos of narcotics on arrival in Vietnam after a connecting flight delayed. Usually, those caught trafficking at least 100 grams of narcotics faced automatic death penalty.
But her appeal benefited from Vietnam’s recent amendments to the Penal Code, exempting drug trafficking among several crimes from automatic death penalty. These days, most traffickers get sentenced to 40 years in jail.
It is possible her sentence was informed by the amount of drugs she was found with when authorities arrested her on transit at Hoh Chi Minh airport.
However, after a legal amendment, stopping automatic death sentences for some crimes such as drug trafficking, Nduta could yet avoid the hangman even if found guilty. She may have to spend 40 years in jail though.
The new development for Nduta may just provide little respite for Kenya because dozens of its nationals are languishing in jails in Asian countries, having fallen victims of drug trafficking, sexual offences or other crimes.
According to data collected by Kenyan Foreign and Diaspora Affairs ministry, there are about 200 Kenyans in jails in India, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. They were mostly arrested for drug trafficking although others were arrested for sexual and human trafficking, sexual assault, visa overstays and other crimes.
Overall, Kenya says some 1100 Kenyans are in foreign jails, including 47 in Uganda although the largest pool is in north America and the UK.
Kenyan officials say the actual number could be higher especially since most Kenyans don’t report when they get into trouble. In Thailand, for instance, there are nine Kenyans, one man and eight women. Most of them are on jail sentences at least until 2055.
