The Australian grandmother sentenced to death by hangman’s noose after she was ‘duped’ into smuggling drugs to Malaysia should not expect much sympathy from the people of the south east Asian nation.
Malaysian locals flatly told MailOnline that drug runners ‘should die’ days after Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 54, was sentenced to death by hanging for allegedly smuggling in more than a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine.
Malaysia’s hardline, mandatory punishment for drug smugglers has previously been branded ‘cruel, inhumane and degrading’ by human rights activists.
But Kuala Lumpur residents were strongly in favour of executing smugglers in more than a dozen interviews on the capital’s streets this weekend, with locals arguing illegal drugs would ‘spoil’ the country.
Australian grandmother Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto (white shirt) has been sentenced to death in Malaysia on drug smuggling charges
Sen Ramiah, a volunteer at a local temple, called for more crimes to be punished with execution. ‘The death penalty is really a must,’ he said
Pancake shop worker Salleh Sheikh Mohamed, 51, was not worried if smugglers were shipping in marijuana, but said importers of ‘anything chemical that kills? They should die’
Kajang prison for women where Elvira Pinto Exposto, 54, is being held facing death
‘It’s justified because so many people, so many families, their lives are destroyed because of drugs,’ local Kwan Daniel said.
Mr Daniel argued the country could ‘rot away’ without capital punishment for drug runners. ‘It’s a good punishment for real drug traffickers, if they’re really drug traffickers,’ he said.
Pancake shop worker Salleh Sheikh Mohamed, 51, was not worried if smugglers were shipping in marijuana, but said importers of ‘anything chemical that kills? They should die’.
‘At my age, I’ve come across a lot, and they don’t give a s***. Those who sell (drugs), they don’t give a s***. So why should we care about those people?’
Sen Ramiah, a volunteer at a local temple, called for more crimes to be punished with execution. ‘The death penalty is really a must,’ he said.
Mr Ramiah argued it was a ‘scary’ deterrent for criminals and that smugglers should not be ‘forgiven’ by society.
‘You can’t forgive them, because it’s hurting the people, the community,’ Mr Ramiah said. ‘Hopefully other countries will follow the same kind of rules we have’.
‘I’m against the death penalty because you are just a human being and you can make mistakes,’ shopkeeper Norifah Samd (pictured) said
‘It’s justified because so many people, so many families, their lives are destroyed because of drugs,’ local Kwan Daniel (pictured) said
Flower stall operator Kareik (right) said he ‘totally’ does not agree with the death sentence and thinks drug runners should get ‘maybe a few years’ in prison
Malaysia was one of only 23 nations to execute people in 2016, according to Amnesty International.
‘It’s been practised here a long time, you can’t erase that overnight,’ said one local, a retired hotel porter named Nathan.
Just a handful of Malaysians who spoke to MailOnline believed execution was too harsh a punishment.
‘I’m against the death penalty because you are just (a) human being and you can make mistakes,’ shopkeeper Norifah Samd said.
‘God is the creator, God is the only one who can take your life’.
She said drugs ‘destruct everything’ but could not accept execution as a punishment.
A flower stall operator, who gave his name only as Kariek, suggested short jail terms as an alternative: ‘I totally do not agree with the death sentence. Maybe (smugglers should get) a few years, that should be enough.’
Some Malaysians expressed sympathy for Ms Exposto if she was – as she has consistently claimed in court – duped into carrying her luggage for a mysterious online suitor.
Retired hotel porter Nathan, who declined to give his last name, said individual countries have their own culture when it comes to drug laws
Shoe store worker ‘Nur’ speak to Mailonline during interview in Kuala Lumpur on May 26, 2018. Nur said she sometimes agrees, and sometimes disagrees with the death penalty
Shop worker Shakilu Ridzu (pictured) said via translator that the ‘death penalty is good’
Artist Hudry Hayn, 51, agreed with the death penalty as drugs could ‘spoil’ the country
Tunalan Beloo 61, a Malaysian who migrated to Perth, compared the scourge of drugs to guns
Others expressed disbelief, saying ‘everybody knows’ about the country’s strict laws.
Ms Explosto’s lawyers have said she was a ‘naive and innocent mule’.
She struck up an internet romance with a ‘US serviceman’ named ‘Captain Daniel Smith’, who claimed he was serving in Afghanistan, the Malaysian courts have heard.
She flew to China to meet him, but ‘Captain Smith’ never showed up and a man instead asked her to take a backpack to Melbourne on his behalf.
Ms Exposto was arrested at Kuala Lumpur international airport in December 2014 after authorities found 1.1kg of crystal methamphetamine stitched into the bag’s lining.
She had not been required to walk through immigration at the time and reportedly volunteered her bags to Customs for inspection.
‘Maria is a victim of an internet romance scam,’ lawyer Tania Scivetti told Reuters after last week’s sentencing. ‘She is not a drug trafficker.’
The case will continue in the coming months. Ms Exposto will appeal her sentence to the country’s highest court. It is her final avenue of appeal.
Australian Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto arrives at the magistrates court in Sepang, near Kuala Lumpur on January 23, 2015