Lesedi Molapisi. (Facebook/Lesedi Molapisi)
- A Motswana woman, found with heroin at a Bangladesh airport in 2022, has been sentenced to hanging.
- Her father, a police commander, said the Botswana government and Amnesty International were mounting an appeal.
- Botswana also practises capital punishment, with 16 inmates on death row.
The family of Lesedi Molapisi have pinned their hopes on an appeal, after she was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Bangladesh on Monday.
Amnesty International – which opposes capital punishment in every situation – and the Botswana government – which supports the death penalty in such cases – has started that process, her father, Goitsemodimo Molapisi, told News24.
“As a family, we have left the matter to the government. It will appeal on our behalf. Amnesty International is also at the forefront of this issue,” said the Botswana Police Service commander at Shakawe Police Station.
Lesedi was arrested in 2022 at Bangladesh’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The 30-year-old was found to be carrying 3.145kg of heroin.
She had arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from South Africa, which travelled via Doha.
After her arrest, Botswana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lemogang Kwape told the media they would send an envoy to check on her.
However, he stated that Botswana could not bend Bangladeshi laws.
READ | ‘Our hope is to prove her innocence’: Thailand reduces SA woman’s drug smuggling sentence
After the sentence was handed down on Monday, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi pledged to support the Molapisi family, if they intended to appeal the sentence.
“What is left is an appeal. We will facilitate and provide counselling to the family, and provide some sort of financial support to enable the final appeal,” Masisi told reporters.
Capital punishment
Amnesty International is unequivocally opposed to the death sentence in all situations, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the individual’s guilt, innocence or other characteristics, or the mechanism employed by a state to carry it out.
In Botswana, where capital punishment is legal, the Molapisi case has again ignited interest in the ongoing constitutional amendments.
Executions are carried out by hanging.
Masisi highlighted that, in Botswana, there was general support for the death penalty on issues of a serious nature – such as drug smuggling.
“I must also remind you that, even in our consultation of the constitutional review, Botswana expressed a similar view to the country where she is being sentenced. There are some strong sentiments out there about involvement in the drug trade,” he said.
There are currently 16 death row inmates in Botswana.
The latest addition was Thato Tsametse, 34, sentenced to death by the Lobatse High Court on 23 May this year.
In 2018, he murdered his 16-year-old cousin, Arnold Ofentse, for insurance money.
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, in a statement, condemned the sentencing of Tsametse and 15 others, who are waiting to be hanged.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
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Source link : https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/pro-death-penalty-botswana-appeals-death-penalty-for-citizen-busted-for-drugs-in-bangladesh-20240531
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Publish date : 2024-05-31 08:31:18