Ashley Oosthuizen is currently serving a life sentence in Thailand after unknowingly signing for a package that contained 20 grams of MDMA. She was arrested in October 2020 and was originally given a death sentence, however, it was then commuted to a life sentence.
Ashley Oosthuizen’s parents are desperate to get her back to South Africa
Ever since her mother, Lynette Blignaut, found out that her daughter is being imprisoned, she has relentlessly been trying to seek public support and asked that everyone keep Ashley in their thoughts and prayers.
And according to Blignaut, Ashley is in the process of appealing her sentence, but it could go on for months.
When Ashley was first arrested, she denied having any involvement with the package containing drugs. She did, however, admit that the drugs were sent in by her boyfriend who lived in Ukraine at the time.
The boyfriend was later identified as Tristan Seth Nettles, an American who began a drug trading business in Thailand.
Ashley’s extradition request denied
Ashley is currently serving a life sentence in Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison. However, her family is trying to have her extradited from Thailand to South Africa.
Thawatchai Chaiyawat, deputy director-general of the Department of Corrections, revealed that authorities cannot accept the extradition request filed by Blignaut because Thailand and South Africa do not have a treaty regarding prisoners transfers.
“Only when such a treaty is in force between the two countries can such a transfer be possible,” he said.
Royal pardon
Chaiyawat added that Ashley may be eligible to be considered for a royal pardon, however, this would only be granted on important occasions.
A royal pardon is the “forgiveness of a crime or offence by the Crown”. This pardon remains an institution in the UK and other monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Cambodia and Thailand.
Ashley remains in “good spirits”
According to Chaiyawat, Ashley is being treated well in prison – in line with “internationally-accepted human rights principles”.
She has reportedly received three shots of the Covid-19 vaccine and is now even teaching yoga to other inmates.
“Oosthuizen remains in good spirits and gets along well with other inmates, many of whom are foreigners,” he said.