Singapore to hang mentally disabled Malaysian man

A mentally disabled Malaysian man will be hanged in Singapore next week after losing a last-ditch appeal, his sister said today, despite an international outcry about his case.

Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws, and handed a death sentence the following year.

But the plan to hang him sparked widespread criticism due to concerns about his intellectual disabilities, with the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson among those condemning it.

After a years-long legal battle, the 34-year-old lost his final appeal last month, when judges rejected arguments that executing a man with mental disabilities contravenes international law.

His family has now been informed he will be executed on Wednesday next week, his sister Sarmila Dharmalingam told AFP.

Family members, including his mother and three siblings, will travel to the city-state to see him beforehand, she said.

https://www.theasianaffairs.com/singapore-to-hang-mentally-disabled-malaysian-man/