Singapore president rejects Nagaenthran’s bid for clemency

Singapore authorities have rejected yet another petition for clemency submitted on behalf of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, leaving him without further legal avenue to appeal against his looming execution in the city-state.

Benny Lee, the principal private secretary to Singapore President Halimah Yacob, said the petition dated Dec 3, 2021 had been denied.

“Please be informed that the position, as communicated in our letter dated June 1, 2020, remains unchanged,” he said in a letter to Nagaenthran’s mother, Panchalai Supermaniam, on March 31 – two days after the Court of Appeal dismissed Nagaenthran’s appeal against his death sentence.

“The sentence of death therefore stands.”

Nagaenthran, now 34, was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest drug laws.

He was handed the death sentence the following year.

Supporters say Nagaenthran has an IQ of 69 – a level recognised as a disability – and was coerced into committing the crime.

He was scheduled to be hanged in November last year but the verdict sparked criticism due to concerns he has intellectual disabilities, with the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson among those condemning the decision.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob were among Malaysian government leaders who had also written to Singapore authorities asking for leniency on behalf of Nagaenthran.

The 2020 letter referred to by Lee stated that Halimah, “after due consideration of the petition and on the advice of the Cabinet”, had decided that Nagaenthran’s death sentence should stand.

On March 29, the Singapore Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against his sentence, calling it an abuse of the court process.