THE Court of Appeal in Singapore has extended the stay of execution of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam on the grounds that he has Covid-19, said lawyer N. Surendran.

The republic’s High Court granted an 11th hour stay of execution yesterday pending the hearing at the Court of Appeal this afternoon.

“Nagaenthran’s stay of execution granted yesterday by High Ct (court) has been extended by the Ct (court) of Appeal this afternoon! On grounds that he has Covid-19,” the advisor for Lawyers for Liberty said in a tweet.

The Malaysian on death row for drug trafficking was slated to be executed at 6am tomorrow.

When contacted, Surendran told The Malaysian Insight that the hearing today was postponed and a new date for the appeal hearing had yet to be fixed.

Nagaenthran was represented by KK Cheng Law LLC’s human rights lawyer M. Ravi in Singapore.

“The Court of Appeal has ordered a stay of execution. I filed another application at the 11th hour. Nagenthran was hit by Covid as the court was about to rise,” Ravi wrote in a Facebook post.

According to the Court Appeal Hearing List, the respondent to the appeal filed by Ravi is the Public Prosecutor.

Lawyer Wong Woon Kwong of the Attorney-General’s Chambers appeared for the respondent.

Justice Andrew Phang Boon Leong, Justice Judith Prakash and Justice Kannan Ramesh presided over the appeal hearing.

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

Nagaenthran  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 had 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 mental disabilities.

Nagaenthran has been diagnosed with intellectual disability and has an IQ of 69, which is lower than average. – November 9, 2021.