M’sian Drug Trafficker Hearing 1 Last Appeal Today (9 Nov) Before Tomorrow’s Execution

By
Shawn Ambrose
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A few days ago, Malaysia Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob made a personal appeal to PM Lee Hsien Loong to spare a Malaysian man from execution here.

31-year-old Nagaenthran Dharmalingam has been on death row ever since he was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2010 for importing 42.72g of heroin into Singapore. His execution was scheduled for 10 Nov 2021, which is tomorrow.

Even though the Court of Appeal dismissed two appeals against his sentence since his conviction, there may be a glimmer of hope yet for Nagaenthran.

M’sian Drug Trafficker Hearing 1 Last Appeal Today (9 Nov) Before Tomorrow’s Execution

The High Court has granted a temporary stay of execution (a court order to temporarily suspend the implementation of a court judgment or other court order) for the 31-year-old, pending one more appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Nagaenthran’s lawyer, M Ravi, revealed this in a Facebook post, and shared screenshots of his submissions.

He argued that the execution, if it proceeds, would be “unlawful” and unconstitutional
given the offender’s “prima facie severe mental disabilities.”

He noted that Nagaenthran had been diagnosed with “borderline intellectual functioning”, and that he had an “IQ score” of 69.

M Ravi added that Nagaenthran has the “mental age of 18” and “does not appear to understand what is happening to him in respect of the impending execution of his sentence of death”.

The lawyer also invoked a resolution issued by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which calls upon all states not to impose a death penalty on “a person suffering from any form of mental disorder…”

These were the arguments put forth by M Ravi before the High Court. The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), however, disputes some of these assertions.

No Credible Basis For Assertions About Mental Age

For one, it said that the lawyer’s evidence supporting the assertion over Nagaenthran’s mental age was “contrary to the objective facts”.

It also pointed to the High Court’s finding that there was “no credible basis” for such an assertion.

“Ravi himself conceded that he possesses no medical expertise to comment on this matter,” said AGC’s said in a statement yesterday (8 Nov).

AGC noted that a senior officer from the Singapore Prison Service who had interacted and observed Nagaenthran for nearly three years has never observed any abnormal behaviour.

“He has no problem communicating with SPS officers in English, Malay and Tamil, making
requests and responding to instruction,” AGC said.

AGC maintained that when Nagaenthran was notified that his execution would be
carried out in the near future, he confirmed that he understood what that meant, and even took steps to “arrange his personal affairs”.

This included requesting religious counselling and requesting a visit from his family members even though he had declined their visits and calls for the three years prior.

According to the AGC, Nagaenthran undergoes regular medical and psychiatric assessments in prison. It said that M Ravi had objected to producing records of Nagaenthran’s latest assessments.

What Now?

The Court of Appeal is Singapore’s highest court, and Nagaenthran and his lawyer are hoping that it will overturn the High Court’s decision.

The appeal will be heard today at 2:30pm. If dismissed, the execution could go on as scheduled tomorrow (10 Nov).

In addition to PM Ismail Sabri’s letter, a petition to save Nagaenthran has also been started online, with over 67,000 signatures at the time of writing.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]