A Vietnamese woman was executed by firing squad in Indonesia on drug charges on Sunday despite efforts by Vietnam to seek commutation for her.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that high-ranking Vietnamese leaders had asked Indonesia to consider clemency for Tran Thi Bich Hanh, 37, whose execution was carried out by shooting. 

Hanh and five others were executed by firing squad the same day for drug trafficking after their petitions for a pardon were rejected in December 2014.

“Vietnam has been consistent in strictly punishing acts of transporting and trading in drugs and has always cooperated with other countries in preventing and combating drug-related crimes,” Le Hai Binh, the Vietnamese ministry’s spokesman, said.

Since Hanh was arrested in June 2011, high-ranking Vietnamese leaders, competent agencies, and the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia has worked with Indonesian authorities many times, asking them to ensure her legitimate rights and interests in accordance with applicable laws and to consider commuting her sentence on humanitarian grounds, the diplomat said. Hanh was caught carrying methamphetamine in her body and she was sentenced to death in November 2011, according to the Vietnam News Agency. She asked Indonesian authorities to let her face the firing squad uncuffed and to cremate her body and keep her ashes at the prison where she had been jailed, according to Jakarta Post.  The five other drug convicts included an Indonesian woman and four men from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, and the Netherlands, The Guardian reported.

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