Singapore delays appeal hearing on disabled man Nagaenthran’s execution

Singapore’s top court postponed the appeal hearing for a Malaysian man on death row believed to be mentally disabled, after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, in a case that has drawn international attention, according to The Associated Press.

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

The Malaysian national was sentenced to death in November 2010, under Singapore’s strict anti-drug laws.

Previous attempts to reduce his sentence to life in prison or receive a presidential pardon have all failed, despite pleas from the international community and rights groups.

The Court of Appeal’s Judge Andrew Phang said Nagaenthran had tested positive for COVID-19, after the defendant had been brought into dock but then abruptly taken away again.

The court dismissed a prosecutor’s suggestion to have Nagaenthran testify via video.

“We have to issue a stay of the execution until all proceedings are concluded. That is the proper order of things,” Phang said.

The stay on the execution followed a court ruling on Monday that had already granted a similar order, pending the result of the appeal at Singapore’s highest court.

Nagaenthran’s defense lawyer, M. Ravi, has based his appeal on the argument that executing a mentally disabled person is a violation of Singapore’s Constitution.

Death penalty opponents say Nagaenthran’s IQ of 69 was disclosed during an earlier lower court hearing, 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.

Members of the international community, representatives of the European Union, rights groups and global figures such as British business magnate Richard Branson have called for Nagaenthran’s life to be spared, and used the case to draw attention toward anti-death penalty advocacy.

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.

Anyone found with over 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of heroin faces the death sentence in Singapore, although judges can reduce this to life in prison at their discretion.

The last execution in Singapore was in 2019.