SINGAPORE -Singapore executed a Malaysian man convicted of drug trafficking on Wednesday despite appeals for clemency on the grounds that he had an intellectual disability, his family said, in a case that has drawn international attention.
Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, 34, had been on death row for more than a decade for trafficking 44 grams (1.5 oz) of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest narcotics laws. His lawyers had filed multiple appeals against his execution saying he was intellectually disabled.
His brother Navin Kumar, 22, said by telephone the execution had been carried out and said the body would be sent back to Malaysia where a funeral would be held in the town of Ipoh.
A Singapore court on Tuesday turned down a legal challenge put forward by Nagaenthran’s mother, clearing the way for the execution by hanging.
At the end of Tuesday’s hearing, Dharmalingam and his family reached through a gap in a glass screen to grasp each others’ hands tightly as they wept. His cries of “ma” could be heard around the courtroom.
Singapore authorities do not usually comment on executions.
About 300 people held a candlelight vigil at a Singapore park on Monday to protest against the planned hanging.
Anti-death penalty group Reprieve in a statement described the execution as a “tragic miscarriage of justice”, but also said it felt it could be a “watershed moment” for opposition against the death penalty in Singapore.
A vigil was also held outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening appealing for clemency, with one protester carrying a placard reading “Singapore spare Nagaenthran the noose.”
“We are unspeakably heartbroken at this incredible cruelty,” Amnesty International Malaysia said on Twitter, calling for the fight against the death penalty to continue in his memory.
Nagaenthran’s case attracted world attention, with a group of United Nations experts and British billionaire Richard Branson joining Malaysia’s prime minister and human rights activists to urge Singapore to commute his sentence.
His lawyers and activists have said Nagaenthran’s IQ was found to be 69, a level recognised as an intellectual disability. However, the courts determined he knew what he was doing at the time of his crime, and ruled there was no admissible evidence showing any decline in his mental condition.
The Singapore government says the death penalty is a deterrent against drug trafficking and most of its citizens support capital punishment.
Source: Reuters, Staff, April 27, 2022
Nagaenthran: Singapore executes low IQ Malaysian man on drugs charge
A court in Singapore has executed a Malaysian drug smuggler, his sister has confirmed to the BBC.
Nagaenthran Dharmalingam had been on death row for more than a decade for attempting to bring around three tablespoons of heroin into Singapore.
His case was highly controversial as he was assessed by a medical expert to have an IQ of 69 - a level that indicates an intellectual disability.
But the government said he "clearly understood the nature of his acts".
In an earlier statement, the government said they found he "did not lose his sense of judgment of the rightness or wrongness of what he was doing".
The court had earlier on Tuesday dismissed a last-ditch appeal by his mother, adding that Nagaenthran had been given "due process in accordance with the law", adding that he had "exhausted his rights of appeal and almost every other recourse under the law over some 11 years".
At the end of Tuesday's hearing, Nagaenthran and his family had reached through a gap in a glass screen to grasp each other's hands tightly as they wept, according to a Reuters report. His cries of "ma" could be heard in the courtroom.
In 2009, Nagaenthran was caught crossing into Singapore from Malaysia with 43g (1.5oz) heroin strapped to his left thigh.
Under Singapore's drug laws - which are among the toughest in the world - those caught carrying more than 15g of heroin are subject to the death penalty.
During his trial, the 34-year-old initially said he was coerced into carrying the drugs, but later said he had committed the offence because he needed money.
The court said his initial defence was "fabricated". He was eventually sentenced to death by hanging.
In 2015, he appealed to have his sentence commuted to life in prison on the basis that he suffered from an intellectual disability.
His lawyers had argued that the execution of a mentally ill person is prohibited under international human rights law.
But a court found that he was not intellectually disabled. A push for presidential clemency was also rejected last year.
"The Court of Appeal found that this was the working of a criminal mind, weighing the risks and countervailing benefits associated with the criminal conduct in question," said Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs in an earlier statement.
The movement has gained traction on social media, where there has been an unusual outpouring of anger and sympathy, including from the British billionaire Richard Branson and actor Stephen Fry, who oppose capital punishment and have called on Singapore to spare Nagaenthran.
Thousands had also signed a petition, arguing that the execution of a mentally ill person is prohibited under international human rights law.
The execution was on Tuesday condemned by rights group Reprieve, who called him the "victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice".
"Nagen's last days were spent, like much of the last decade, in the torturous isolation of solitary confinement," said Reprieve's Director Maya Foa.
"Our thoughts are with Nagen's family, who never stopped fighting for him; their pain is unimaginable."
Singaporean anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han also released a photo of Nagaenthran on Wednesday, which pictured him reportedly wearing his favourite outfit.
The Singapore government has argued that international law does not prohibit the death penalty and that there is no international consensus on the use of it.
They have also argued that under Singapore law, he would not have been given the death penalty if the court had found him to be "suffering from an abnormality of mind which substantially impaired his mental responsibility".
Source:
BBC News, Yvette Tan, April 27, 2022
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