NAGAENTHRAN Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with an intellectual disability on death row in Singapore for drug trafficking, has not received any independent psychiatric assessment, human rights organisations said in a last-ditch attempt to stop his execution next week.

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) and Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) in a joint statement demanded the republic halt the execution, scheduled for next Wednesday, and conform with international human rights law on executing persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities.

“Singapore has even dismissed the issue of psychosis based solely on the statement and feedback from the Singapore Prison Services.

“To provide Nagaenthran with an independent psychiatric assessment at this stage would cause no prejudice to the State; rather it would demonstrate that Singapore takes its obligations under article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, namely that they “take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity,” the groups said.

It was reported today that Nagaenthran will be executed next Wednesday, according to his lawyer M. Ravi.

Lawyers for Liberty adviser N. Surendran had  also confirmed the matter to The Malaysian Insight.

Nagaenthran, 34, has an IQ of 69, a lower than average score that qualifies for intellectual disability.

Nagaenthran’s final legal challenge was dismissed on March 29. 

On March 31 – after Nagaenthran’s final court hearing – the Singapore President’s office said it had not shifted its position and that the death sentence remained in place.

ADPAN and TJC said the timeframe in which Nagaenthran’s legal challenge and clemency application were dismissed raises substantial questions as to whether the clemency process outlined under article 22P(2) of the Singapore Constitution was complied with. 

“Under the said article, the clemency process is not a discretionary power afforded to the president, but a layered process where the trial judge, the appeal judges, and the attorney-general provide their respective opinions and feedback to the cabinet before an advice is made to the president.

“If the process was complied with, there is a question as to what was the opinion provided by all the stakeholders involved, particularly in relation to the information that arose during Nagaenthran’s legal challenge on the possibility he suffered from declining mental health, including psychosis, during his detention,” said the group.

Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to death in 2011 under the Misuse of Drugs Act for illegally importing 42.7g of diamorphine.

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.

He was originally scheduled to be hanged in November but the plan sparked criticism due to his IQ level and his lawyer mounted an 11th-hour challenge at the Court of Appeal.

In November, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong wrote to the president of Singapore, appealing for clemency for Nagaenthran.

In the same month, Nagaenthran had his stay of execution extended after he tested positive for Covid-19.

On March 29, Nagaenthran lost his final appeal against the death penalty when his case was dismissed by the Singapore Court of Appeal. The court had ruled that international laws on the execution of disabled persons do not apply. – April 20, 2022.