Nagaenthran’s mum files final desperate bid at Singapore court to save her son’s life

In a last-ditch attempt to save her son from the gallows, Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam’s mother has filed a criminal motion in the city-state’s Court of Appeal and will appear herself at the hearing tomorrow, a day before he is scheduled to be executed.

Prominent Singapore rights lawyer M Ravi said Panchalai Supermaniam would appear as she had been unable to find any lawyers to represent Nagaenthran.

In a Facebook post, he said the motion to challenge the legality of previous judgments on the grounds of conflict of interest would be heard at 2.30pm.

“Lawyers are fearful of reprisal from the court and hence reluctant to represent Nagaenthran,” he said.

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty meanwhile said this would be Nagaenthran’s final legal challenge to set aside his conviction and death sentence.

“Nagaenthran’s mother has been unable to obtain the services of a lawyer in Singapore to file the challenge, hence she has personally filed it herself in court, without the assistance of any legal firm. She did so with the help of friends and activists,” its chief coordinator Zaid Malek said.

“It has become very difficult to secure the services of Singaporean lawyers to take such legal challenges because lawyers have been consistently penalised and heavily fined by the AG’s Chambers and judiciary for doing so, resulting in Panchalai having to file the case herself in the court registry.”

The basis of the challenge is that the judge who presided over and dismissed Nagaenthran’s appeals – Sundaresh Menon – is also the attorney-general who prosecuted Nagaenthran and secured his conviction.

“This is a blatant denial of fair trial and unheard of in the Commonwealth judicial systems,” Zaid added.

Nagaenthran is scheduled to be executed on April 27 after losing multiple attempts to halt the death sentence handed down to him in 2010 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into Singapore.

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.

Nagaenthran’s latest petition for clemency was rejected on March 31, two days after the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against his death sentence.