Singapore-Justice At All Costs

 

justice, At Any Cost

SINGAPORE

Singapore is preparing to execute an intellectually disabled man for smuggling a small amount of heroin into the country, a decision that has sparked outrage from Singaporeans and human rights advocates around the world, the Washington Post reported.

The case centers on Malaysian national Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, 33, who was caught in 2009 entering Singapore from Malaysia with 1.5 ounces of heroin. Singaporean law punishes drug smuggling with the death penalty and an attempt to reduce his penalty to life in prison failed in 2019.

Dharmalingam is set to be executed Wednesday, becoming the first person to be put to death in the city-state since 2019. His case has garnered criticism from many activists, Singaporeans and Malaysians, who say the man has an IQ of 69 – a level recognized as an intellectual disability.

During his trial, an independent psychologist diagnosed him with mental and intellectual impairment. But Singaporean authorities maintain that the convicted man “clearly understood the nature of his acts, and he did not lose his sense of judgment of the rightness or wrongness of what he was doing.”

Singapore is one of four countries in the world that execute people convicted of drug offenses. The government has defended the practice as an effective deterrent and says there is support for the death penalty.

However, a 2018 survey found that only about one-third of respondents supported the mandatory sentence of death for drug traffickers and firearm offenses.