A Malaysian disabled man has lost his appeal and will be hanged in Singapore

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

A Malaysian man with a mental handicap, according to a lawyer and activists, has lost his final court appeal against his death sentence in Singapore and will be executed soon.

Malaysia (Malaysia)
According to a lawyer and rights campaigners, a Malaysian man with a mental handicap lost his final court appeal against his death sentence in Singapore on Tuesday and would be executed soon.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam has been on death row since 2010 for attempting to import heroin into Singapore in quantities of less than 43 grammes (1.5 ounces).
His IQ was shown to be 69 during a previous court hearing, which is a level internationally recognised as intellectual handicap, yet the judge ruled Nagaenthran knew what he was doing when he broke Singapore's strict anti-drug legislation.

 

M. Ravi, a lawyer aiding the case, stated on Facebook that Nagaenthran's appeal was "an abuse of process and that international law does not apply," according to Singapore's top court.

"Nagaenthran, who is mentally ill, will most likely be hanged in the next days," he stated.

Nagaenthran faces execution unless Singapore President Halimah Yacob grants him a pardon, according to the UK-based rights group Reprieve.

"The Singaporean government has made it plain that it is committed to championing the rights of disabled people."
Allowing this mockery of justice to occur would betray those pledges, according to Reprieve director Maya Foa.

 

"We implore President Halimah Yacob to heed the cries for mercy from around the world, from the United Nations to global business leaders, and spare the life of this helpless man."
In a statement, Foa said.

In Singapore, anyone caught with more than 15 grammes (0.5 ounces) of heroin gets the death penalty, though judges have the power to commute this to life in prison.

Nagaenthran was condemned to death in 2010, and efforts to commute his sentence to life in prison or obtain a presidential pardon were unsuccessful.

 

Malaysia's prime minister, European Union members, and global celebrities such as British business billionaire Richard Branson have all asked for Nagaenthran's life to be spared, and have used the case to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

Singapore's home affairs ministry responded by stating that the government takes a "zero-tolerance approach against illicit substances" and that the death sentence is clearly enforced at the country's borders.

[richard_smith237]

This highlights how even the most seemingly civilized of nations is uncivilized behind the ‘shopping mall’ veneer. 
 

I don’t quite buy into the protection hard core criminals are given in many western nations, but for the most part they get this stuff right.