Death Penalty News

Man With Alleged Intellectual Disability Receives Death Sentence Scheduled For 10 Nov While the Singapore system believes in rehabilitation, certain crimes like drug trafficking can be subject to the heaviest punishment of a death sentence, often with little leeway for negotiation. On Thursday (28 Oct), activist Kokila Annamalai shared a Facebook post about Nagaenthran, who allegedly has an intellectual disability but was given the death sentence. His family, who resides in Malaysia, received a letter (pictured) informing them that his execution was scheduled for 10 Nov. This is how you're informed of when state murder of your child will take place in Singapore. Lawyer M Ravi said the execution of a mentally ill person is prohibited under human rights law and has arranged for an urgent meeting with Nagaenthran to try to save him. Execution scheduled on 10 Nov On Thursday (28 Oct), a letter received by Nagaenthran’s mother was shared in a Facebook post . The Singapore Prison Service...

Singapore’s highest court will on Tuesday make an 11th-hour ruling on whether to grant a stay of execution for a convicted Malaysian drug trafficker who is facing imminent execution, following a constitutional challenge that claimed the death sentence violated the 33-year-old man’s fundamental rights. The Court of Appeal will convene on Tuesday to hear the case of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, said anti-death penalty activist and journalist Kirsten Han on Twitter. The urgent convening of the country’s highest judicial body follows a High Court judge’s dismissal on Monday of an originating summons that sought to stay the Malaysian national’s scheduled execution on Wednesday. “The appeal for the application dismissed today has been set for 2.30pm tomorrow, alongside the hearing for a second motion asking for Nagen to be assessed by psychiatrists. If both are dismissed ... the execution will proceed as scheduled,” Han wrote. The case of Nagaenthran, who has an IQ of 69, has in recent days ...

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) and Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) are alarmed by the scheduled execution of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam by the Singapore government on 27th April 2022 , during the holy month of Ramadhan observed by the Muslim communities in Malaysia and Singapore. Nagaenthran was convicted under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act for trafficking 42.72 grams of Diamorphine (heroin). His I.Q. has been assessed to be 69, a level that is internationally recognised as an intellectual disability. His last legal challenge was dismissed on 29 March 2022, leaving him with no further legal avenue to challenge the scheduled execution. During the hearing, the Public Prosecutor alluded that the issue of fitness to execute is an issue that should be addressed through the clemency process as opposed to legal process.  RELATED  | Nagaenthran to be hanged next week, says lawyer On 1 June 2020, the President’s office rejected Nagaenthran’s clemency application....

The petition was started as Naga's execution date looms closer, and after Nagaenthran's mother received a letter (left) from the Singaporean government informing her of it The letter was made public in a Facebook post by Nagaenthran's Singapore-based lawyer M Ravi, who called the execution "despicable", especially with Deepavali drawing close. "How insensitive [are] the prison authorities to tell his family to come to Singapore and prepare for his funeral during Deepavali?" Ravi questioned. RELATED |  Singapore | Intellectually disabled Malaysian to be hanged on 10th Nov. It is unclear if he understood his arrest, charges and impending execution. The letter, dated 26 October from the Singapore Prison Service and addressed to Panchalai Supermaniam who lives in Ipoh, has since gone viral. It reads: "Please be informed that the death sentence passed on your son, Nagaenthran A/L K Dharmalingam, will be carried out on 10 November 2021 (Wednesday)....

Execution of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who has IQ of 69, upheld despite claims it goes against international law A man with learning disabilities who has spent more than a decade on death row could face execution within days after Singapore’s top court dismissed his last-ditch appeal, in a case that has drawn global condemnation. Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a Malaysian national, was arrested in 2009 for attempting to smuggle 43 grams of heroin – about three tablespoons –into Singapore. Nagaenthran, who was 21 at the time of his arrest, has said he was coerced into carrying the package, which was strapped to his thigh, and did not know its contents at the time. His case has provoked an outcry globally. UN experts have said the sentence is not only disproportionate for drug trafficking, and therefore illegal under international law, but also that there are concerns that accommodations were not made for his disabilities. Campaigners say that Nagaenthran has an IQ of 69, a level recognis...

The Court of Appeal has thrown out two final appeals by a Malaysian drug trafficker against his death sentence for drug trafficking on Monday (27 May), ending a series of court battles spanning a period of nearly 10 years. The final recourse for 30-year-old Nagaenthran a/l K Dharmalingam would have been to petition to the President for clemency, according to his lawyer Mr Eugene Thuraisingam. The two appeals were against the decisions of the trial judge, Justice Chan Seng Onn, to dismiss Nagaenthran’s applications for re-sentencing due to a mental impairment arising from abnormality of mind, and for judicial review of the Public Prosecutor’s decision not to grant Nagaenthran a certificate of substantive assistance (referred to as the “PP’s non-certification decision” in general). Both appeals were heard together before a five-judge Court of Appeal in January this year, and judgment for both appeals were reserved. RELATED | Malaysian drug mule due to hang in Singapor...

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment on the case of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam , 34, who has been on death row for over a decade. Nagaenthran, a Malaysian, was to have been executed on Nov 10  last year for drug trafficking, but his execution was postponed after he tested positive for Covid-19 a day earlier. He is said to have an IQ of 69 and to suffer from an intellectual disability. His case has received considerable international attention last year.  Many have pleaded for clemency on his behalf, including Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah, and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, rapporteurs from the United Nations and British business magnate Richard Branson, among other celebrities. Nagaenthran has filed several appeals over the years, all of which have been dismissed. A clemency petition  from his mother, Panchalai, was submitted to President Halimah Yakob but it was turned down. In the latest appeal, the court of five judges, including Chief Justice Sundaresh...

Singapore, Jan 24 (PTI) -- Indian-origin drug trafficker Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam’s appeal against his execution sentence, which was scheduled to be heard on Monday, has been adjourned indefinitely , according to a media report. Nagaenthran’s new lawyer Violet Netto had applied for the adjournment, The Straits Times newspaper reported on Monday. Nagaenthran, 33, of Indian-origin and Malaysian citizenship, is appealing against a High Court decision denying him permission to start judicial review proceedings to challenge the death sentence. No new hearing date has been fixed, according to The Straits Times report. The hearing was slated to be heard by a five-judge panel comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justices Andrew Phang, Judith Prakash, Belinda Ang and Chao Hick Tin. Nagaenthran has also asked the court to exercise its power to have him assessed by psychiatrists for mental fitness.  Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 with heroin strapped to his thigh. He was convicted...

At the same time, the AGC is also demanding that Nagaenthran’s lawyer remove two Facebook posts on the grounds of Contempt of Court, including a live video wherein the lawyer talked about Nagaenthran’s case. Singapore — The family of a Malaysian convict on death row whose case has received international attention of late will be taking Singapore’s Attorney-General, Lucien Wong, to court due to reported “negligence” by the criminal justice system. Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, 33, who has an IQ of 69 and is said to suffer from intellectual disability, was scheduled to be judicially executed on Nov 10, but was given a temporary stay of execution after testing positive for Covid on Nov 8. He was arrested for drug trafficking over a decade ago at the age of 21, and was sentenced to death for importing 42.72g of heroin into Singapore. He said at his trial that he had been coerced into committing the offence by a man who not only assaulted him but also threatened to kill his girlfriend. Malays...

KUALA LUMPUR: An appeal for clemency has been submitted to the Singapore government to commute the death sentence on Malaysian Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam for drug trafficking. Nagaenthran, who was convicted of trafficking in 42.72gm of diamorphine in 2011, is expected to be executed on Nov 10. Several legal professional bodies, namely the Malaysian Bar, the Advocates Association of Sarawak and the Sabah Law Society, joined hands in pleading to the Singapore government not to proceed with the execution as Nagaenthran suffers from a mental disability. Malaysian Bar president AG Kalidas said the plea was based on the fact that Nagaenthran’s mental capacity had diminished ever since he was convicted. He noted that Nagaenthran had been diagnosed with a borderline intellectual disability with an IQ of 69. RELATED | Last-ditch bid to spare mentally impaired man from hanging in Singapore Meanwhile, Malaysian Bar Human Rights Committee co-chair New Sin Yew called for the death penalty to be abo...