Margaret Nduta, a Kenyan woman previously sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking, has been spared the death penalty after a successful appeal.
Vietnam's Supreme Court has commuted her sentence to life imprisonment, offering a glimmer of hope for her family.
She now has the option to apply for clemency from the Vietnamese President, a process that, while uncertain, could eventually lead to a repatriation deal.
Nduta, 37, was arrested in July 2023 at an airport in Ho Chi Minh City while on transit to Laos.
Vietnamese authorities found two kilograms of cocaine hidden in the false bottom of her suitcase.
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Despite her insistence that she was unaware of the drugs and claims from her family that she had been set up, she was convicted on March 6, 2025, and sentenced to death.
On March 22, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei revealed that Nduta had not been legally represented during her initial trial, but a formal appeal was filed and recently heard.
“We can confirm that while deeply distressed, Margaret is coping and has been treated humanely,” Sing’oei had then stated. “Though she was not represented by counsel during trial, an appeal filed a few days ago has now led to a life sentence.”
Following the government’s intervention, Nduta has now been sentenced to life in prison, with a chance to apply for clemency from the country's President.
According to Vietnam’s Penal Code, anyone caught trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine, or over 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, faces a mandatory death penalty.
