Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has personally appealed to his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong for Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam to be spared the gallows.
This is to allow for a fresh clemency petition to be filed.
The Malaysian - who has a mild intellectual disability - is set to be executed in the city-state on Wednesday (Nov 10) for a drug trafficking conviction.
In a letter sighted by Malaysiakini, Ismail Sabri stressed he had no intention to interfere in the city state’s laws but appealed for leniency on “humanitarian grounds”.
“While I note that the legal process has been exhausted, I submit this appeal for leniency purely on humanitarian ground (sic), without any intention to interfere in Singapore’s judicial process.
“As a lawyer myself, I know that the legal and judicial systems of Malaysia and Singapore share many similarities.
“I believe there is still room for the government of Singapore to consider granting a stay of execution and allowing a new petition for Presidential Clemency in the case of Mr Nagaenthran.
“I sincerely hope you would give this appeal due consideration,” read his Nov 3 letter to Lee.
Nagaenthran’s lawyers mounted a constitutional challenge in an eleventh-hour bid to halt his execution. The case will be heard at the Singapore High Court at 2:30pm tomorrow.
Wisma Putra previously wrote to Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan about the case but stopped short of asking for the execution to be halted.
Public outcry, international headlines
Back in 2011, Nagaenthran was sentenced to death for trafficking 42.72g of diamorphine into Singapore two years prior. Heroin is made from diamorphine.
Previous appeals and clemency petitions have failed.
Since the execution date became known, his case has sparked public outcry with particular attention on his lower-than-average IQ of 69 and other mental health issues.
An online petition calling on Singapore president Halimah Yacob to pardon him has garnered more than 59,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Anti-death penalty and lawyer groups have launched a #SaveNagaenthran campaign, urging the republic to commute his death sentence to a life sentence.
Aside from those in Malaysia and Singapore, news outlets like the Sydney Morning Herald, Vice, The Washington Post and global newswire Associated Press have reported on the case.
In response, Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) cited the courts and said Nagaenthran’s mental responsibility for his offence was “not substantially impaired” and he “clearly understood” that transporting drugs was a crime.
As pressure and media queries mounted, the MHA again disputed his mental condition yesterday. It said several psychiatrists had told the court he was “not intellectually disabled” and “knew what he was doing”.
Nagaenthran’s lawyers have disputed these claims and criticised the MHA for going ahead with the execution. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.