Singapore executes a mentally disabled Malaysian on drug charges

A Malaysian drug smuggler was executed by a Singapore court, his sister revealed. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam has been sentenced to death for more than a decade for attempting to smuggle three teaspoons of heroin into Singapore.

His case was particularly contentious because a medical expert determined he had an IQ of 69, which implies an intellectual deficiency.

The government, however, stated that he “obviously comprehended the nature of his activities.”

The court had earlier on Tuesday dismissed his mother’s last-ditch appeal, saying that Nagaenthran had been given “due process in accordance with the law.”

According to Reuters, at the end of Tuesday’s session, Nagaenthran and his family reached through a breach in a glass screen to tightly clasp each other’s hands as they sobbed. His shouts of “ma” could be heard across the courtroom.

In a previous statement, the government stated that he “did not lose his sense of judgment of the rightness or wrongness of what he was doing.”

Nagaenthran was apprehended coming into Singapore from Malaysia in 2009 with 43g (1.5oz) of heroin strapped to his left thigh.

Those caught with more than 15g of heroin are liable to the death penalty in Singapore.

During his trial, the 34-year-old claimed he was compelled into transporting the drugs, but later admitted he did it because he needed money.

The court ruled that his initial defense was “fabricated.” Eventually, he was sentenced to death by hanging.

In 2015, he filed an appeal to have his sentence commuted to life in prison on the grounds that he had an intellectual handicap.

Finally, the court determined that he was not cognitively impaired. Last year, a request for presidential clemency was also denied.

“The Court of Appeal found that this was the working of a criminal mind, weighing the risks and countervailing benefits associated with the criminal conduct in question,” said Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs in an earlier statement.

The movement has gathered steam on social media, where there has been an unusual outpouring of indignation and sympathy, including from British billionaire Richard Branson and actor Stephen Fry, both of whom reject the death penalty and have urged Singapore to spare Nagaenthran.

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