Singapore executes Indian-origin Malaysian despite pleas he was disabled

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 34, had been on death row for over a decade after he was found guilty of trafficking about 43 grams (1.5 pounds) of heroin into Singapore

Singapore on Wednesday executed a Malaysian man convicted of drug smuggling after a court dismissed a last-minute challenge from his mother and international pleas to spare him on grounds he was mentally disabled.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 34, had been on death row for over a decade after he was found guilty of trafficking about 43 grams (1.5 pounds) of heroin into Singapore. The city-state's government has said its use of the death penalty for drug crimes is made clear at the borders.

Nagaenthran’s family and social activists confirmed the execution Wednesday.

“On this score may I declare that Malaysia is far more humane,” his sister, Sarmila Dharmalingam, said. “Zero to Singapore on this.”

Nagaenthran’s supporters and lawyers said he had an IQ of 69 and was intellectually disabled, and that the execution of a mentally ill person was prohibited under international human rights law.

Singapore courts cited psychiatrists' testimony that he was not mentally disabled and had understood his actions at the time of his crime.

“Nagaenthran Dharmalingam’s name will go down in history as the victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice,” said Maya Foa, director of nongovernmental organization Reprieve.