KUALA LUMPUR – A photo of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam that has been circulated online, supposedly captured by Singapore’s prison authorities in his final days before his execution yesterday morning, has garnered quite some attention.
The photo features a rather expressionless Nagaenthran, clad in a black and grey polo shirt, blue jeans and sports shoes, sitting on a stool with a deadpan stare into the camera.
Singaporean rights activist Kirsten Han, in sharing the image on her Twitter account, said the island-state allows family members to provide clothes to prisoners on death row for a final photo shoot before they are hanged.
The photo would then be given to the family either shortly before or after the execution takes place, a practice not adopted by Malaysia.
According to Han, Nagaenthran’s brother, Navin Kumar, had claimed that the clothes worn by his sibling in the photo were his favourites.
Her tweet immediately garnered a strong response from netizens, many of whom condemned the practice of death row photoshoots as cruel and inhumane.
Speaking to The Vibes, Lawyers for Liberty chief coordinator Zaid Malek said while this could serve as some sort of commemorative piece to family members, it could also be a painful reminder of the events that had transpired.
The fact we are in a pandemic and they couldn’t meet much, with the only physical contact being in court during Nagaenthran’s final days, a photo can act as a remembrance for his family.
“But beyond that, one must also wonder about the devastation the family has to endure after,” he said today.
Zaid said the whole idea of having a photoshoot before a person is sent to the gallows in itself exemplifies the bizarreness of the death penalty.
“Can you imagine this person having to pose for a photo knowing it will be sent to his family after he is executed?
“This whole thing surrounding the death penalty and its processes is really inhumane and just goes to show you how bizarre it can get.”
It’s okay with consent
Nagaenthran, an intellectually disabled Malaysian citizen who was arrested in 2009 for trafficking heroin into Singapore, was sent to the gallows early yesterday morning, despite widespread protests.
A last-ditch clemency application by the Malaysian citizen to overturn his 2010 conviction was dismissed by Singapore’s Court of Appeal on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo took a different view on the matter, saying such a photo could be exactly what both a death row inmate and his family might want.
He said as long as the photo was taken with the consent of both parties, the matter should be left at that.
“It’s the family’s last photo of him. He is dressed well and not placed in his prison cell. Maybe, this is just the way the family wants to remember him. In that sense, this may be a good thing.
If it is taken with the consent of the inmate and the family, then who are we to question the decision,” he said.
Khoo also said he does not believe the photoshoots are being forced on prisoners or that the shots taken are being distributed to the public.
Another human rights law practitioner, Lim Wei Jiet, similarly believes the practice offers family members “one last look” at the inmates on death row.
“However, this does not excuse the barbaric atrocity of hanging a person. I just don’t know what to make of the whole photoshoot thing.” – The Vibes, April 28, 2022
