A Malaysian man found guilty of drug trafficking was executed on Wednesday in Singapore after a last-ditch legal challenge by his mother failed in a high-profile case that had attracted international calls for clemency.
The family of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam and anti-death penalty campaigners confirmed the execution took place early on Wednesday morning.
Nagaenthran, 34, had been on death row for more than a decade for trafficking 43 grams (1.5 oz) of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest narcotics laws. His brother Navin Kumar, 22, told Reuters by telephone the execution had been carried out and said the funeral would be held in the town of Ipoh in Malaysia.
The case had attracted global attention as campaigners – including the British billionaire Richard Branson – decried authorities proceeding with the hanging despite the fact that Nagaenthran had the mental age of a minor.
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Activists hold a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night against the death penalty for Malaysian national Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam outside Singapore’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: EPA-EFE
A Malaysian man found guilty of drug trafficking was executed on Wednesday in Singapore after a last-ditch legal challenge by his mother failed in a high-profile case that had attracted international calls for clemency.
The family of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam and anti-death penalty campaigners confirmed the execution took place early on Wednesday morning.
Nagaenthran, 34, had been on death row for more than a decade for trafficking 43 grams (1.5 oz) of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest narcotics laws. His brother Navin Kumar, 22, told Reuters by telephone the execution had been carried out and said the funeral would be held in the town of Ipoh in Malaysia.
The case had attracted global attention as campaigners – including the British billionaire Richard Branson – decried authorities proceeding with the hanging despite the fact that Nagaenthran had the mental age of a minor.
“Nagaenthran Dharmalingam’s name will go down in history as the victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice,” said Mary Foa, the director of the Britain-based anti-death penalty charity Reprieve.
Foa described the execution as a “flagrant violation of international laws that Singapore has chosen to sign up to”, adding that “unprecedented” protests in the country against the hanging signaled that public opinion about capital punishment was shifting.
Singapore’s Court of Appeal previously described his defence as “hopeless” and lawyers’ claims of him being mentally disabled as without any legal or factual basis. A legal challenge filed by Nagaenthran’s mother was dismissed by the court on Tuesday.
More at https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/poli...malaysian-nagaenthran-k-dharmalingam-due-hang
