Singapore executed a mentally disabled Malaysian man sentenced for a drug case on Wednesday. It is due to a court disregarding a last-minute petition from his mother and international pleas to spare him.
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 34, had been on death row for over a decade. It is because authorities caught him guilty of smuggling 43 grams (1.5 oz) of heroin into Singapore. The city-state’s government has said its use of the death penalty for drug crimes is made clear at the borders.
“On this score may I declare that Malaysia is far more humane,” his sister Sarmila Dharmalingam said. “Zero to Singapore on this.”
Nagaenthran’s family and social activists confirmed the execution on Wednesday.
Nagaenthran’s supporters and lawyers claimed he was intellectually challenged. He had an IQ of 69. Also, the killing of a mentally ill individual was illegal under international human rights legislation.
Singapore’s courts determined, based on testimony from psychiatrists, that he was not mentally ill and that he was aware of his actions at the time of his crime.
Flagrant violation of international laws
“Nagaenthran Dharmalingam’s name will go down in history as the victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice,” said Maya Foa, director of the non-governmental organization Reprieve.
“Hanging an intellectually disabled, mentally unwell man because he was coerced into carrying less than three tablespoons of diamorphine is unjustifiable and a flagrant violation of international laws that Singapore has chosen to sign up to.”
Nagaenthran and his mother filed a motion on Monday. Thereby, claiming that carrying out his death sentence was unconstitutional and that he may not have received a fair trial because the chief justice who presided over his appeals was the attorney general when Nagaenthran faced charges in 2010, posing a conflict of interest, according to the filing.
The application didn’t receive a nod because it was “frivolous,” according to the court.
Nagaenthran’s body will transport to his homeland in Malaysia’s northern state of Perak. The burial arrangements are ready over there.
Singapore had put a two-year halt because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Singapore reinstated them in March with the execution of a drug case trafficker.
In Singapore, anyone caught with more than 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of heroin gets the death penalty. Although, judges have the power to commute this to life in prison. Attempts to have Nagaenthran’s sentence reduced or to obtain a presidential pardon were unsuccessful.
Malaysia’s leader, EU authorities, and international celebrities like British billionaire Richard Branson all urged to spare Nagaenthran’s life. They have used the case to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.