Murder is the premeditated killing of another - and when Singapore decided to execute NAGAENTHRAN Dharmalingam, a Malaysian, found guilty of drug trafficking on WEDNESDAY (27/4/2022).
Yes, it the LAW in Singapore that allows for death penalty > BUT, who makes the law, it is the Parliament, and the people in Parliament are the people elected representatives. Thus, it is the PEOPLE that makes the law - so, Singaporeans cannot simply place blame on the government but should also acknowledge that they are the ones that imposed DEATH PENALTY in law.
Hence, when after the court process is over, and a person is sentenced to death and later hanged to death, the people cannot say that they did not KILL or murder the said person.
Death Penalty is a lawful sentence in Singapore and some other countries, and the people of Singapore can decide to abolish it or NOT. The courts just follow the law that the people made.
HENCE, when(and if) Nagaenthran gets executed, the people in Singapore is not blame-free. They made the laws - they carry out executions.
Now, Nagaenthran did not KILL anyone, it is merely a drug trafficking offence. Is it even right to maintain the death penalty for offences where no one is killed??
INTELECTUAL DISABILITY with an IQ of 69(normal is 100 or more) - this was the point raised by the accused in the recent court hearing, which was rejected but then the question is whether the court even ordered an INDEPENDENT evaluation of his mental status by a professional medical practitioner, and it seems that it did not.
A minor cannot be found guilty and sentenced - the reason is mental capacity. It plays a key part in our legal system. If one do not have the required mental capacity, he cannot even be charged and tried. How can a person with a low mental capacity even exercise his right to 'defend himself'. Likewise, even after conviction and sentence, mental capacity is needed for the carrying out the sentence in full > if not sentence may be commuted, and he/she may even be send to the required medical facility...
See earlier relevant posts:-
Commute mentally challenged Malaysian Nagaenthran’s death sentence to imprisonment. Hearing 30/11/2021
PM Ismail Sabri ask Singapore for leniency for Malaysian scheduled to be hanged for drug trafficking? Will PH Plus, DAP, PAS, MIC, MCA,...?
Execution of Malaysian in Singapore on 10/11/2021 during Covid-19 pandemic VIOLATES family RIGHTS and opportunity to meet for last times?
Rights groups question Singapore’s process for Nagaenthran’s appeal
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.
Press Release | Spare the Life of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam 17 Nov 2021 9:02 am
On
1 November 2021, the Presidents of the Malaysian Bar, the Advocates
Association of Sarawak, and the Sabah Law Society, co-signed two
letters, one addressed to HE the President of the Republic of Singapore,
and another addressed to HE the Prime Minister of Singapore. Both
letters essentially called upon the Government of Singapore to exercise
its power of clemency to commute the death sentence imposed upon
Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a Malaysian national who had been convicted
of drug trafficking in Singapore, and who was scheduled to hang on 10
November 2021. The letters were personally delivered by the President
of the Malaysian Bar on behalf of his fellow Presidents and himself to
HE the High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia, who was gracious to
receive him and his small delegation, in person.
Fortuitously, the execution did not proceed as scheduled, because Nagaenthran contracted COVID-19 in prison.1 Nevertheless, the death sentence remains.
On 12 November 2021, the Government of Singapore replied to the letters. In essence, the Government of Singapore reiterated that Nagaenthran had enjoyed the full benefit of legal due process within the criminal justice system in Singapore. He had received legal representation at trial, and his medical condition — he has been identified as having an IQ of 69 — had been fully taken into account in subsequent appeals and other legal proceedings. The courts had decided that his intellectual capacity was not diminished, and that he was fully cognisant of his actions and fully appreciated their legal consequences. As such, there was no reason to disturb the finding of guilt and the imposition of the death penalty.
Our call to the Government of Singapore was in relation to the issue of clemency. This is a process that is extra-judicial that takes place after all judicial processes are exhausted. We note that an earlier application for clemency had been rejected. Given the reported further deterioration of Nagaenthran’s mental condition, we believe that a reconsideration of clemency is warranted.2
We note that many international,3 regional4 and national organisations, governments,5 civil society bodies,6 and individuals7 have written to the Government of Singapore in support of the abolition of the death penalty and the commutation of Nagaenthran’s death sentence. Many that have done so, including the three Bars in Malaysia, have noted that Singapore has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”).8 As such, we hope that Singapore will give effect to commitments that it has made under the CRPD.
We sincerely and strongly urge the Government of Singapore to give this all due and necessary consideration. We have always had a close relationship with Singapore — our neighbour to the south. We respect its sovereignty and laws, but what we are merely asking for is compassion to be extended to our citizen who has been medically diagnosed as being of impaired intellectual ability and has been languishing in a cell for more than ten years in a foreign country. All we are asking for is humanity.
A G KALIDAS
President
Malaysian Bar
17 November 2021
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