SINGAPORE’S Court of Appeal has fixed Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam’s appeal hearing for 2.30pm tomorrow and a psychiatric assessment of his deteriorating mental state at the same time and date, following the high court’s earlier decision to stay his execution.

Lawyers for Liberty adviser N. Surendran said the court orders came late in the evening today, adding that if both matters are dismissed, the stay of execution will no longer be valid and Nagaenthran can be executed on Wednesday.

“No lawyer can be reasonably expected to file written submissions and prepare and file affidavits overnight. It is a plainly absurd direction from the court with what appears to be a predetermined intent to dismiss both sets of hearings tomorrow,” he said in a statement.

Surendran said these “unreasonable” orders to have both hearings heard in less than 24 hours amount to a blatant denial of due process to Nagaenthran and are contrary to Article 9 of the Singapore Constitution.

“What is the need for this disturbing hurry? Is it to enable Nagaenthran to be executed on Wednesday, in defiance of civilised opinion?”

He urged the court to give lawyers adequate time to prepare their case, which involves complex issues and the life of a mentally disabled man.

He said the stay of execution must also be maintained until the hearings are properly and fairly disposed of, adding that failure to do so will cause damage to the reputation of Singapore’s judiciary and government.

This development comes just hours after the Singapore High Court stayed Malaysian Nagaenthran’s execution, which was slated to be carried out on Wednesday.

His lawyers had sought a prohibitory order in a last ditch attempt to save him from the gallows.

In 2019, Singapore’s Court of Appeal had dismissed Nagaenthran’s appeal against his death sentence for carrying 42.72g of heroin into the republic.

He was caught with a bundle of heroin strapped to his thigh when entering the city-state from Malaysia via the Woodlands Checkpoint in April 2009.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the federal government has exhausted the clemency process for Nagaenthran last year.

However, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob wrote to his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, seeking leniency for the Malaysian last Wednesday.

Anti-death sentence campaigners and rights group in both countries have urged for the execution to be stopped, citing an international law violation by executing a person with a mental disabilities.

Nagaenthran has been diagnosed with intellectual disability and has an IQ of 69, which is lower than average. – November 8, 2021.