Malaysia’s Nagaenthran Executed Over Drugs Charges In Singapore
Naga’s mother made a last-ditch effort to save her intellectually disabled son, but the case was immediately dismissed.
Janice
Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with learning disabilities who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010 and whose case attracted global attention, has also been executed in Singapore’s Changi Prison. Naga, who was arrested after Police found a bundle of 42.7 Grammes (1.5 oz) of heroin strapped to his thigh, was hanged just
before the dawn on the Wednesday, his family also said. Navin Kumar, Naga’s brother, also told the media that the body would be sent back to Malaysia where a funeral would also be held in the town of Ipoh. The Malaysian’s execution came after the Court of Appeal immediately dismissed an effort by the 34 year old’s mother to halt
her son’s execution. The judges said her last-minute plea was vexatious. Last month, the court called legal efforts to save Naga’s life a blatant and egregious abuse of the legal process, and that it was improper to engage in or encourage last ditch attempts to also delay or stop an execution. Naga’s case has drawn global attention to
The Singapore’s continued use of the death penalty, and particularly in drug trafficking cases, sparked renewed debate in the city-state itself. M Ravi, a lawyer who also previously represented Naga, expressed his grief over Wednesday’s execution on Twitter, saying; Om Shanti, may your soul rest in peace. He added, You may break
us, but not defeat us. Our fight against the death penalty continues. Monday, a few hundred people turned out to show their opposition to the death penalty, gathering in Hong Lim Park, a small patch of ground in the city centre that is the only place where the government also allows public assemblies. The Malaysian government, United
Nations experts, the European Union, civil society groups and celebrities including British entrepreneur Richard Branson had also called for Naga’s life to be spared. The use of the death penalty for all the drug-related offences is incompatible with international human rights law, the UN High Commissioner for the Human Rights wrote in a
statement calling on Singapore to halt Naga’s execution. Countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty may only impose it for the most serious crimes, which is also interpreted as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing too. The Singapore also plans to hang Datchinamurthy Kataiah, another Malaysian convicted of
drug offences, on the Friday in what OHCHR also said appeared to be an alarming acceleration in execution notices in the country. Abdul Kahar Othman, a Singaporean also convicted of drug-related offences, was hanged on March 30, the first person to be executed by the country in two years. At least three other men too found guilty of drug-related offences, Roslan bin Bakar,
Rosman bin Abdullah and Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, are at risk of imminent execution, according to the UN. The city-state has amended sentencing guidelines to allow judges to impose a life sentence in trafficking cases, providing the defendant meets certain conditions, as an alternative to the mandatory death penalty. Singapore maintains some of the harshest drug laws in the world and claims the death penalty acts as a deterrent.
