Putrajaya can get ICJ to halt Nagaenthran’s execution, says lawyer

 

Singapore human rights lawyer M Ravi says Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam was declared by a government psychiatrist to be suffering from an ‘abnormality of mind’.

GEORGE TOWN: The lawyer for a Malaysian man facing execution for drug trafficking in Singapore has urged Putrajaya to bring the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop his execution slated for next week.

M Ravi said despite 34-year-old Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam being declared by a Singapore government psychiatrist to be suffering from an “abnormality of mind”, the authorities there were preparing to go ahead with the execution.

Nagaenthran has been on death row since 2010 for smuggling 42.7gm of heroin into Singapore. During the trial, he was declared to be a person suffering from an intellectual disability with an IQ of 69.

However, the court found him to be not “substantially impaired” and that he knew fully well that he was carrying out an illegal act, according to previous reports.

Ravi, also a human rights activist, said Nagaenthran’s family received a letter saying he would be executed on April 27. He said it was now left to the Malaysian government to appeal to the ICJ to stop the execution.

“The government should apply to the ICJ to set aside the Singapore court’s decision, as Malaysia has the power under international human rights law and customary law.

“Executing a person with a mental disorder is prohibited under international laws. The ICJ has the power to grant a stay,” he told FMT.

Ravi said while Singapore was not obliged to follow the orders of the ICJ, there was a chance it would do so in this case.

“I would expect North Korea to ignore ICJ’s rulings, not Singapore,” he said.

“The Singapore state will never be able to recover from the disgrace it’s going to face internationally in hanging an intellectually disabled person.

“I will say that all Singaporeans will have blood on their hands next Wednesday as the execution is done in their name.”

Singapore’s home ministry had said it has zero-tolerance against drugs being smuggled into the country, with numerous warnings on the death penalty placed at its international borders.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network and Transformative Justice Collective has urged Singapore to halt the execution to abide by international human rights laws.

They said the international law was clear on executing persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities. - FMT