Serious Please Guess??? Drug Trafficker faked qualifications to avoid death!

[Pinkieslut]

Drug trafficker on death row found by High Court to have altered accounts to reflect lower education qualifications: MHA​

TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Malaysian drug offender Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who is on death row, was noted by the High Court to be "continuously altering his account of his education qualifications", said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Nov 5).

He did so "ostensibly to reflect lower educational qualifications each time he was interviewed", added the ministry.

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The ministry said the High Court had assessed the evidence of psychiatrists who agreed that Nagaenthran was not intellectually disabled. This included a psychiatrist called by the defence, on behalf of Nagaenthran.

"The High Court considered the facts, expert evidence from four different psychiatric/psychological experts, and further submissions by the Prosecution and the Defence. The High Court held that Nagaenthran knew what he was doing, and upheld the sentence of death," said MHA.

MHA's statement in response to further media queries on the case follows calls from human rights groups and others to halt Nagaenthran's upcoming execution on grounds of intellectual disability and low IQ.

A petition for President Halimah Yacob to pardon Nagaenthran, who faces execution on Nov 10, was started on Oct 29. It has been signed by more than 55,900 people as of Saturday morning.

Drug trafficker did not commit act under duress, mentally ‘not substantially’ impaired, says MHA in response to petition
According to the petition, Nagaenthran was assessed to have an IQ of 69, impaired executive function and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during his forensic psychiatric evaluation.

Nagaenthran was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2010 for importing 42.72g of heroin. He had been caught in April 2009 while entering Singapore from Malaysia at Woodlands Checkpoint with the bundle of drugs strapped to his thigh.

Nagaenthran's appeal against his conviction and sentence was dismissed in July 2011.

In February 2015, Nagaenthran filed a re-sentencing application to set aside the death sentence imposed on him, and to substitute it with life imprisonment.

An issue considered during the re-sentencing application was whether his mental responsibility for his actions was "substantially impaired" at the time he had committed the offence, said MHA in its statement.

MHA added the High Court held that Nagaenthran "knew what he was doing" and upheld the sentence of death.

Apex Court dismisses appeals by Malaysian man on death row for 9 years for importing drugs
The Court also noted that his actions in respect of the drug importation offence revealed that he was “capable of manipulation and evasion”.

"For instance, when stopped at the checkpoint, he attempted to forestall a search by telling the Central Narcotics Bureau officers that he was 'working in security', thus appealing to the social perception of the trustworthiness of security officers."

MHA said the High Court also found that Nagaenthran was able to plan and organise on simpler terms, and “was relatively adept at living independently”.

The Home Affairs Ministry said in an earlier statement that Nagaenthran's re-sentencing application was dismissed in September 2017, and that the High Court "found that Nagaenthran was not suffering from an abnormality of mind at the time of the offence".

His appeal was subsequently dismissed in May 2019 and his petition to the President for clemency was unsuccessful.

DECISION UPHELD IN COURT OF APPEAL

MHA said the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court's decision, saying that it was satisfied that Nagaenthran "clearly understood" the nature of his acts, said MHA.

"The Court of Appeal noted that Nagaenthran knew that it was unlawful for him to be transporting drugs, and hence attempted to conceal the bundle by strapping it to his left thigh and then wearing a large pair of trousers over it. He undertook the criminal endeavour in order to pay off his debts, and hoped to receive a further sum of money upon successful delivery."

It also found that Nagaenthran’s actions “evidenced a deliberate, purposeful and calculated decision” that was carried out “in the hope that the endeavour would pay off, despite the obvious risks”.

This was “the working of a criminal mind, weighing the risks and countervailing benefits associated with the criminal conduct in question”, the Court of Appeal found.

MHA said that Nagaenthran "considered the risks, balanced it against the reward he had hoped he would get, and decided to take the risk".

The Home Affairs Ministry added that he was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process.

"The approach Singapore has taken has resulted in it being one of the safest places in the world to live, relatively free of serious crime, and without the scourge of drug related crimes and homicides — which take thousands of lives, and destroys countless young people and families, in some countries," said MHA. CNA

 

[tobelightlight]

Do you believe the Singapore courts and the media?

 

[Sir_Fcuk]

jiuhukia, execute lah

 

[poore]

just execute lah. pretend only. waste how many years taxpayers money to feed him already?

 

[bobby]

So we only hang clever people ?

 

[songsongjurong]

no more Fridays (6am) execution?

10Nov is wednesday.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Hongkan liao... New Malaysian PM come out and appeal for the death row inmate. What is Miss Vivian gon do?

NEWS
PM personally appeals to Singapore to save Nagaenthran
Annabelle Lee
Published: Nov 7, 2021 12:17 PM
⋅
Updated: 12:28 PM

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...
......

 

[Rogue Trader]

He did so "ostensibly to reflect lower educational qualifications each time he was interviewed", added the ministry.

Who was his defense lawyer/advisor?

They should have told him to say he has several PhDs and other qualifications.

Don't they know in sinkapore you escape punishment if you have "high potential"?

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Why waste so much time? In the good old days, they just execute. Knn act stupid to avoid death then what? Even don’t die also rot in jail la.

Of course the social justice warriors all up in arms about these cos their lives revolve around finding useless causes to fight for.

 

[songsongjurong]

celebrate deepavali not enoigh?

adopt Japan same day notice/execution..


he has made successful drug runs to ruining many families... shameless of the family and the bolehland premier to request clemency

 

[zeddy]

no more Fridays (6am) execution?

10Nov is wednesday.

Hmmm my thoughts exactly. Used to be on Fridays. Just to add, the old Bayi Changi hangman up lorry last week due to Covid. Apparently he was buried in a Muslim grave. Not many knew he converted to Islam when marrying his wife.

 

[zeddy]

Aiyah this Keling is a clear cut case of being used by a Malaysian syndicate by being a mule to pay off his debts. When a trafficker is on the verge of meeting his hangman, all grandmother stories come out liao. This not an isolated case. Many Matland Kelings have been caught by the CNB either by sting ops or by the ICA at Woodlands Checkpoint attempting to smuggle heroin into Singapore. All voluntarily became mules to pay off their debts to the loan sharks back home. And ruthless Matland Keling gangs are known to use this kind of modus operandi.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Sinkapore kangaroo court has succumbed to international pressure!​

​

Singapore suspends disabled Malaysian's execution amid pleas​

Singapore’s High Court has suspended the scheduled execution of a Malaysian man believed to have a mental disability until an appeal is heard, amid pleas from the international community and rights groups
By
ANNABELLE LIANG Associated Press
November 8, 2021, 8:10 AM ET
• 4 min

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's High Court on Monday suspended the scheduled execution of a Malaysian man believed to be mentally disabled until an appeal is heard, amid pleas from the international community and rights groups.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 33, was due to be executed by hanging on Wednesday for trying to smuggle less than 43 grams (1.5 ounces) of heroin into the country.

The court granted a stay of the execution after Nagaenthran's defense lawyer, M. Ravi, argued that capital punishment for a mentally disabled person was a violation of Singapore’s Constitution.

Ravi's application was dismissed, but the stay on the execution was granted “pending the hearing of the appeal to the Court of Appeal,” Singapore's top court, the lawyer said on Facebook.

The appeal is scheduled to be heard via videoconference on Tuesday. If this fails, the stay will be lifted and Nagaenthran could be executed as scheduled.

Narcotics officers found a small bundle of heroin strapped to Nagaenthran's left thigh at a checkpoint more than a decade ago. He was sentenced to death in November 2010 under the country’s strict drug laws. A previous appeal to reduce the penalty to life in prison failed and a final push for presidential clemency was rejected last year.

Death penalty opponents say Nagaenthran’s IQ was disclosed during a trial at the High Court as 69, a level that is internationally recognized as an intellectual disability.

But the court ruled that Nagaenthran knew what he was doing and upheld the death sentence.

Nagaenthran's family lives in Ipoh in northern Malaysia. Activist Kirsten Han, who helped his mother, two younger siblings and cousin arrange travel to Singapore, told The Associated Press that they have been allowed daily prison visits since arriving last week.

“The main thing that I’ve heard from Nagen’s younger brother is that Nagen has been disoriented, he doesn’t quite make eye contact, and goes between periods of lucidity and confusion,” Han said.

“His brother even doubts that he fully grasps that his execution date is so close,” she added.

Nagaenthran’s older sister, Sarmila Dharmalingam, who didn’t make the trip, said she briefed Nagaenthran about the court outcome during a phone conversation Monday and that the family held out hope for a positive result. He thanked her but didn’t say much more, she said.

Dobby Chew of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network expressed disappointment that the High Court had dismissed the merits of Ravi's argument.

Chew said he hopes Singapore will give adequate time for the appeal. ADPAN and other human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called the execution of an intellectually disabled man inhumane and a violation of international law.

Legal experts, activists and human rights groups in Malaysia have called for Nagaenthran’s execution to be halted. Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob also reportedly asked for leniency “purely on humanitarian grounds” in a letter addressed to Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, dated Nov. 3.

On Sunday, the European Union delegation to Singapore, along with the diplomatic missions of Norway and Switzerland, called for the execution to be halted.

“Today, more than two thirds of the countries of the world have become abolitionist in law or practice, which confirms a global trend in favor of the abolition of the death penalty,” they said in a statement.

A petition calling for a presidential pardon for Nagaenthran has drawn close to 65,000 signatures. Family members and friends of 13 current and former death row prisoners also wrote a joint letter to Singapore's president on Monday calling for the death penalty to be abolished.

British business magnate Richard Branson also called for Nagaenthran's life to be spared.

“It’s almost always the most vulnerable people, people struggling to make ends meet, immigrants in need of money, that are roped into criminal schemes, unable to defend themselves when caught and facing the court,” Branson said in a statement Monday.

“It’s impossible not to see the extent to which inequality, poverty and the death penalty are linked,” he added.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said Nagaenthran has been accorded full due process under the law.

“The High Court had assessed the evidence of the psychiatrists, including the evidence of a psychiatrist called by the defense, on behalf of Nagaenthran, who agreed in court, that Nagaenthran was not intellectually disabled,” the ministry said in response to media queries on Friday.

“Nagaenthran considered the risks, balanced it against the reward he had hoped he would get, and decided to take the risk,” it added.

The last execution in Singapore was in 2019.

———

This story corrects that the reported date of the letter from Malaysia's prime minister was Nov. 3, not Dec. 3.

 

[songsongjurong]

VAR overrule. Execution stays.

 

[Rogue Trader]

It's official: Appeal overruled!

Court dismisses last-ditch application in case of Malaysian drug trafficker on death row​

Lydia Lam
08 Nov 2021 07:16PM (Updated: 08 Nov 2021 09:22PM)

SINGAPORE: A High Court judge has dismissed a last-ditch court application against the death sentence of a Malaysian drug trafficker.

Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, 33, has been on death row for about 11 years for importing 42.72g of heroin into Singapore in 2009 in a bundle strapped to his thigh.

In November 2010, he was sentenced to death. Nagaenthran failed in his appeals to the High Court in 2011 and the Apex Court in 2019, where a court of five judges including the Chief Justice dismissed his applications. His subsequent petition to the President for clemency was unsuccessful.

On Monday (Nov 8), lawyer M Ravi filed a court application before Justice See Kee Oon, which was heard in chambers and without access to the media.

Mr Ravi's application in relation to Nagaenthran's impending death sentence hinged on the factual contention that Nagaenthran purportedly possesses the mental age of someone below 18, Justice See said in his oral remarks issued on Monday evening.

The lawyer argued that judicial mercy should be exercised to grant Nagaenthran a reprieve from the execution of the death sentence, pending further psychiatric examinations and reports on his mental state.

Justice See noted that it was not disputed that Nagaenthran was assessed to have an IQ of 69. However, he was found by the trial judge not to be suffering from any degree of intellectual disability, even though it was accepted that he had borderline intellectual functioning.

Justice See pointed out that "there is no credible basis" for Mr Ravi's assertions for Nagaenthran's mental age.

"Mr Ravi has only met the plaintiff once in the last three years, for a mere 26 minutes in all from 9.20am to 9.46am on Nov 2, 2021," he said.

He added that there was "no legal basis" for the argument that customary international law should take precedence over domestic law.

"The plaintiff has also not shown any legal or evidential basis to support his submission that mental age should be reassessed after the time of commission of the offence," said Justice See.

"He has not shown an arguable prima facie case demonstrating that his current mental state is any different compared to his mental state at the time of commission of the offence."

The judge said Nagaenthran had his sentence affirmed by the Court of Appeal, and that his attempt to seek re-sentencing was also dismissed by the same court.

"I reiterate that the plaintiff has been accorded due process in accordance with the law. It is not open to him to challenge the court's findings pertaining to his mental responsibility, whether directly or indirectly, in yet another attempt to revisit and unravel the finality of those findings," added Justice See.

Lawyer M Ravi said in a Facebook post after the hearing that Nagaenthran's hanging has been stayed, pending an appeal he intends to make against Justice See’s decision. The appeal is set to be heard on Tuesday.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said in a statement after the hearing that Mr Ravi’s evidence was “contrary to the objective facts”.

A Singapore Prison Service (SPS) officer who had observed Nagaenthran for almost three years and interacts frequently with him gave evidence that Nagaenthran was able to plan his daily visit and call schedules, understand that his sentence was to be carried out soon and choose prison officers to care for his needs in the time leading to his execution, said AGC.

He could communicate “coherently and purposefully” and provide contact numbers of relatives and a childhood friend.

AGC said it wrote to Mr Ravi on Nov 5 to Ravi to seek Nagaenthran’s consent to disclose to the court the records of his latest medical and psychiatric assessments, as these may be subject to doctor-patient confidentiality. However, Mr Ravi did not respond or attempt to take instructions from Nagaenthran on this issue.

BACKGROUND TO THE CASE​

Nagaenthran was set to hang on Wednesday. An online petition against his death penalty has drawn more than 60,000 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

The petition said Nagaenthran was an "intellectually disabled" man who committed "a non-violent crime" through coercion. The case drew global news coverage from outlets including CNN, The Guardian and The Washington Post.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) subsequently issued statements in response, saying that amount of heroin Nagaenthran was caught trafficking was enough to feed the addiction of about 510 abusers for a week.

MHA said the High Court held in 2011 that Nagaenthran knew what he was doing, and upheld the death sentence after assessing the evidence of psychiatrists, including one called by the defence. The defence's psychiatrist had agreed that Nagaenthran was not intellectually disabled.

In the 2019 Court of Appeal judgement, the court noted that Nagaenthran had been referred in 2013 to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for a forensic psychiatric evaluation, in order to assess if he was suffering from an abnormality of the mind and therefore suitable for resentencing under the 2012 amendments.

The IMH report found that Nagaenthran had no mental illness at the time of the offence and was not clinically mentally retarded. However, his borderline range of intelligence might have made him more susceptible to believing a man's purported threat to kill his girlfriend.

"The Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court’s decision and said that it was satisfied that Nagaenthran clearly understood the nature of his acts," said MHA.

This involved attempting to conceal the drug bundle by strapping it to his thigh and wearing a large pair of trousers over it as he knew it was illegal for him to transport drugs.

He had committed the crime to pay off his debts, and hoped to receive an additional sum of money upon successful delivery, MHA said.

Source: CNA/ll