Malaysian court sentences Australian grandmother to death by hanging

An Australian woman has been sentenced to death by hanging after a Malaysian court overturned an earlier acquittal of drug smuggling charges.

According to CNN affiliate Sky News, a three judge panel unanimously threw out the previous ruling in 54-year-old Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto's case.

The grandmother and mother of four was arrested in December 2014 while transiting through the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route from Shanghai to Melbourne, according to CNN affiliate SBS News.

She was found in possession of 1.1 kilos



(2.4 lb) of crystal methamphetamine and faced a mandatory death penalty under Malaysia's draconian drugs laws, but late last year a court cleared her of the trafficking charges.

However, Exposto was not permitted to leave the country and return to her home in Sydney. She was released on bail while prosecutors appealed the verdict.

The death penalty will not be immediately carried out, as Exposto still has the right to another appeal, according to Sky.

Malaysia carried out seven executions in 2017, according to Cornell Law School.