Eight Hong Kong residents convicted of trafficking in heroin were hanged Wednesday despite appeals from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the human rights group Amnesty International.
Prison officials it was the highest number of hangings on a single day and the first time a foreign woman has been executed in Malaysia.Despite widespread criticism, Malaysian officials say they will maintain the mandatory death penalty for anyone convicted of drug trafficking.
Officials say there are about 350,000 drug addicts among Malaysia's 17.8 million people, and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has called illicit drugs Malaysia's "No. 1 enemy."
Since 1975, 250 people have been sentenced to death for drug trafficking. Of those, 92 have been hanged, including the eight Wednesday.