Nagaenthran case: NGOs, MIC gather at Singapore High Comm to urge for pardon

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian activists and leaders gathered in front of the Singapore High Commission on Saturday (April 23) to urge for Nagaenthran Dharmalingam to be pardoned.

Nagaenthran was due to be hanged in Singapore next week for drug trafficking.

Speaking to the media, MIC Information chief R. Thinalan said they submitted a memorandum calling for his pardon because he was a person with intellectual disability.

The 34-year-old from Perak is said to have an IQ of 69 which is a level recognised as a disability.

He has been on death row in Singapore since 2010 for smuggling 42.7g of heroin into the country a year earlier.

"According to international law, those with low IQ levels should not be hanged.

"His IQ level is at 69, so we use this as a basis to plead to the Singapore President to release him from the death sentence and follow international law," he said.

Thinalan added that MIC had informed the High Commission yesterday (April 22) that they were marching with over 200 delegates to submit the memorandum.

Also standing in solidarity were the Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) who had repeatedly expressed their displeasure over the case.

Its chief coordinator Zaid Malek said they had exhausted the legal avenues through the Singapore judiciary system without much impact.

"He will be sent to the gallows on April 27, so we are standing here to show our displeasure of Singapore's government for going ahead with his execution despite his disability," he said.

On the memorandum to the Home Ministry submitted on Friday (April 22) by LFL and other NGOs urging to bring Nagaenthran back to Malaysia through an international prisoner transfer programme, he said the government had to take swift action before his execution.

"The government must do what they can now because time is short. His life will end if we do nothing," he said.

Also present was the Anti-Death Penalty Malaysia Network (Adpan).