Malaysians hold sombre vigil as Nagaenthran’s appeal fails

KUALA LUMPUR – About 90 people from civil society groups gathered outside the Singapore High Commission here this evening to hold a candlelight vigil for Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, who is scheduled to be executed in Singapore tomorrow morning.

Earlier today, Singapore’s Court of Appeal dismissed a last-ditch application by Nagaenthran to overturn his 2010 conviction for trafficking in 42.72g of heroin in the city state.

Nagaenthran is expected to be executed between 5.45am and 6am tomorrow morning, according to N. Surendran from Malaysian legal rights group Lawyers for Liberty.

Huddled with candles under the watchful eyes of some 50 police officers, protesters spent half an hour holding up placards and banners urging Singapore to commute Nagaenthran’s death sentence before concluding the vigil by singing Malaysia’s national anthem.

Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn, who attended the vigil, acknowledged that there was little room to reverse Nagaenthran’s sentence, but stressed that they will push for Singapore to follow Malaysia’s lead and impose a moratorium on the death penalty.

“We have the death penalty in Malaysia, but we have implemented a moratorium several years ago, and even at the United Nations, we voted for a moratorium to be implemented and many countries in the UN have also voted in favour of the moratorium,” she said.

“Our message here today is to have the death penalty abolished, and we hope that there is something that the Singaporean government will be able to do to implement a moratorium against the execution.”

Nagaenthran, who was arrested in 2009, was certified during his trial to be intellectually disabled with an IQ of 69.

However, the trial judge ruled that Nagaenthran was on the borderline of having a functional intellect and the court concluded that he was aware he was committing a crime.

The case also attracted international attention, with British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and UK comedian and author Stephen Fry joining the chorus of calls for clemency for Nagaenthran. – The Vibes, April 26, 2022