Béatrice Saubin

Béatrice Saubin (7 September 1959 – 2 November 2007) was a French woman convicted of drug smuggling in Malaysia who later wrote a best-selling book about her prison experiences. Raised by her grandmother in Romilly-sur-Seine, she dropped out of high school and travelled to Thailand, then Malaysia, having affairs with men in each country. Her Malaysian lover in Penang offered to marry her if she met him in Zürich. At age 20, in January 1980, she was detained at Penang International Airport when an airport x-ray scanner detected of pure grade heroin hidden in her suitcase.

While she claimed that her Malaysian lover had set her up, the Malaysian High Court rejected her story and sentenced her to death by hanging in June 1982. She was the first foreign national to be sentenced to death under Malaysia's strict drug trafficking law passed in 1976. Following a public outcry in France, the High Court reduced her sentence to life imprisonment in August 1982. During her years of incarceration, she learned Malay and Cantonese and worked on behalf of inmates in the prison hospital. She was released in 1990 for good conduct. She authored L'Épreuve (My Ordeal) (1991) about her prison experiences, and Quand la Porte S'Ouvre (When the Door Opens) (1995) about her return to freedom.

Early life Béatrice Saubin was born on 7 September 1959, in Troyes, France. She was the product of a liaison between her mother, Josette, a prostitute, and Sylvestre Saubin, a soldier. Dropping out of high school, she travelled to Pakistan and Thailand, became engaged to a Thai man, ran out of money, and returned home to France, where she started working as a secretary. According to the law, anyone in possession of more than of heroin or morphine was subject to the death sentence or life imprisonment.

Prison life Following the reduction of her sentence, Saubin continued to receive public support and enjoyed special privileges as a "celebrity prisoner".

Saubin spent her years in prison building herself intellectually and emotionally. She learned Malay and Cantonese, and developed close relationships with other women prisoners. During her last three years in prison, she worked in the prison hospital assisting other inmates.

In 1990, she was released from prison for good conduct. She was buried near her mother in Villemoyenne.