SINGAPORE’S Court of Appeal today reserved its judgment on Malaysian Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam’s appeal against a High Court ruling.

In November, the High Court denied the 34-year-old permission to start judicial review proceedings to challenge his execution for a drug trafficking offence.

The hearing today was heard before a five-member panel comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and justices Andrew Phang, Belinda Ang, Chao Hick Tin and Judith Prakash.

“We will reserve judgment and come back to you soon,” said Menon.

Nagaenthran, represented by Violet Netto, also asked the court to exercise its powers to have him assessed by psychiatrists.

“He (Menon) said he will release the judgment very soon but did not give a date. I do not think it is today,” said public prosecutor Wong Woon Kwong.

Nagaenthran from Perak was sentenced to death in 2010 for trafficking 42.72g of heroin into Singapore in 2009. His appeals against his conviction and sentence were dismissed in 2011.

He applied to be resentenced to life imprisonment in 2015, after the law was changed to allow the alternative sentence.

However, the High Court upheld his death sentence in 2017, after considering expert evidence from four psychiatrists and psychologists.

The appeal process went through to the final stage, and his application for presidential clemency was rejected on June 1, 2020.

Nagaenthran’s case has captured international attention, and on November 7, it was reported that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob sent a letter to his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong seeking leniency in this case.

On December 3, Singapore President Halimah Yacob accorded Nagaenthran with full due process under the law. – Bernama, March 1, 2022.