After several postponements, a Singapore court has ruled death row inmate Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam’s execution date for April 27, said his lawyer M Ravi.
Ravi called the news “heartbreaking”, claiming that Singapore would not recover from the international “disgrace” it would face in hanging an intellectually disabled person.
“Just received the heartbreaking news that Nagaenthran will be hanged next Wednesday.
“Everything from the beginning is wrong about this case. Even the government psychiatrist at the trial admitted that Nagaenthran suffered from an abnormality of the mind.
“I will say that all Singaporeans will have blood on their hands next Wednesday as the execution is done in their name. You have a duty to stop this,” he said on LinkedIn.
The Singapore court rejected the appeal against the Malaysian’s execution in March, dismissing an argument put forward by his legal team that he should be spared because he is mentally impaired.
Nagaenthran has been on death row for more than a decade for trafficking about 42.7g of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest narcotics laws.
His lawyers say he has a mild intellectual disability due to his lower-than-average IQ of 69.
Nagaenthran was scheduled to hang on Nov 10, 2021, but was granted a stay of execution on Nov 8 after his Singaporean lawyer M Ravi filed an 11th hour constitutional challenge.
Although the High Court dismissed the challenge, it allowed an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
The appeal was supposed to be heard in November 2021 but was postponed to March when Nagaenthran tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov 9.
Nagaenthran’s case has garnered significant attention from international media, with particular attention on Singapore’s move to execute someone with an intellectual disability.
One of his lawyers, N Surendran, told Malaysiakini that they will be formally writing to the Singapore Attorney-General, calling for a halt of the execution as well as re-hearings. - Mkini
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