Death Row tussle goes on after judge rejects last-ditch bid
PETALING JAYA: A Singapore judge has rejected a last-minute plea to spare a Malaysian from the death sentence, but a human rights group says it will continue with the fight to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. The court decision this afternoon came after M Ravi, the lawyer for Nagaenthran…
PETALING JAYA: A Singapore judge has rejected a last-minute plea to spare a Malaysian from the death sentence, but a human rights group says it will continue with the fight to commute the sentence to life imprisonment.
The court decision this afternoon came after M Ravi, the lawyer for Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, said a stay of execution has been granted pending the hearing of an appeal against the High Court decision.
Nagaenthran, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2011, is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday. His lawyer filed an application to spare his life today on the basis that Nagaenthran has the mental age of someone below 18.
However, Singapore High Court judge See Kee Oon dismissed the application. He said that while Nagaenthran has an IQ of 69, there was no “credible basis” that his mental age was that of someone below the age of 18.
He also said there was no legal basis to support the argument that international law should take precedence over Singapore law.
Ravi argued that Nagaenthran’s death sentence should not be executed pending further psychiatric examination and reports on his mental state.
The Malaysian human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has submitted a memorandum to the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur calling for a halt to the execution. LFL coordinator Zaid Malek said “the fight is not over” and that the group was still demanding that the death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.
Nagaenthran’s Malaysian lawyer, N Surendran, said the Singapore Court of Appeal will hear his appeal against the death sentence tomorrow morning and an application for a psychiatric assessment in the afternoon.
He accused the Singapore appeals court of having “incredibly and unreasonably” called for written submissions to be filed by 10am tomorrow. “No lawyer can be reasonably expected to file written submissions and affidavits overnight,” Surendran was quoted as saying.
LFL said its memorandum to the high commission was supported by various activists and rights groups such as the human rights group Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, and highlighted Singapore’s obligation towards the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
“We believe that Nagaenthran falls under the provisions of the convention and since Singapore has ratified the CRPD, it would bar Singapore from executing persons with intellectual disabilities,” Zaid said. — Free Malaysia Today