THAILAND: PREGNANT WOMEN SPARED DEATH PENALTY

legislators amended the Thai criminal code to exempt pregnant women from the death penalty. The National Legislative Assembly approved an amendment to the Criminal Case Procedural Code to make a life sentence the maximum penalty allowed for women who are pregnant when they go on trial. Under the previous code, pregnant women were eligible for capital punishment but were allowed at least one year on death row before the execution was carried out to spare the life of the child. The death penalty has rarely been carried out in Thailand in the last few years.