Nagaenthran accorded full due process under the law, Singapore president tells PM, Agong

Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam who is on death row in Singapore has been accorded full due process under the law, Singapore President Halimah Yacob said in her reply to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Sultan Abdullah had written to Halimah appealing for clemency for Nagaenthran.

Halimah’s response was made in a statement issued by the republic’s foreign affairs ministry in response to media queries on the letters of appeal from Malaysian leaders and the fate of the 33-year-old who is awaiting execution for a drug offence in Singapore.

On Nov 12, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had also replied to their Malaysian counterparts.

Both Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had earlier written to their Singapore counterparts, requesting for the discretion of the authorities in Singapore to grant presidential clemency to Nagaenthran.

Nagaenthran was arrested by Singaporean authorities on April 22, 2009 for smuggling in 42.72g of diamorphine and was sentenced to death by the High Court of Singapore on Nov 22, 2010.

The appeal process through the court has already been made by Nagaenthran’s family lawyer up to the final stage, which is the presidential clemency that was rejected on June 1, 2020.

Nagaenthran, who has been on death row for 11 years and was scheduled to be hanged on Nov 10, found temporary respite on Nov 9 after the court was told he had tested positive for Covid-19 when he appeared for a last-bid attempt against his sentence.

Following the dramatic turn of events, Nagaenthran was granted a further stay of execution by the Court of Appeal.

Nagaenthran’s lawyers claim that he is intellectually disabled.