South African Ashley Oosthuizen eligible for royal pardon

Oosthuizen left South Africa to teach English abroad shortly after finishing high school in 2018.

The dream, however, was short-lived, as she was arrested in a sting operation.

She was arrested on Oct 8, 2020 in Surat Thani’s Koh Samui district on charges of smuggling and possessing more than 20 grammes of MDMA – commonly known as ecstasy, which is classified as a Class 1 narcotic – after signing for a package from abroad which contained illegal drugs.

In May last year, the court handed Oosthuizen the death penalty that was then commuted to a life sentence, which she is currently serving at Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison.

Ashley Oosthuizen a native of George in the Western Cape is now eligible to be considered for a royal pardon, which could be granted on rare occasions.

A royal pardon is the forgiveness of a crime or offence by the Crown. It remains as an institution in the UK and many other monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Cambodia and Thailand.

Thawatchai Chaiyawat, deputy director-general of the Department of Corrections, said she has already received three shots of the Covid-19 vaccine and is now teaching yoga to other inmates.

“Oosthuizen remains in good spirits and gets along well with other inmates, many of whom are foreigners,” he said.