November 09, 2021, 03:56 PM
The execution of Nagaenthran A/L K Dharmalingam remains stayed after he tested positive for Covid-19.
The 33-year-old Malaysian man, who was sentenced to death for smuggling heroin into Singapore, appeared in court on Tuesday, Nov. 9 for his latest appeal hearing.
Tested positive for Covid-19
According to Yahoo, Nagaenthran appeared in court in person 12 minutes before the hearing, but was later taken away.
The court was subsequently informed by a judge that Nagaenthran had tested positive for Covid-19, reported CNA.
On Monday (Nov. 8), Nagaenthran's lawyer, M Ravi, revealed that his client was granted a temporary stay of execution pending one more appeal.
Execution unlikely to proceed
His execution was scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 10, but in view of his Covid-19 infection, it is unlikely to proceed.
Justice Andrew Phang had said in court, as reported by CNA:
"The execution is scheduled for tomorrow... If the applicant has been afflicted by Covid-19... it's our view that the execution cannot take place anyway."
Background
Nagaenthran was first convicted and sentenced to death in November 2010, after he was caught with a bundle of diamorphine, or heroin, strapped to his thigh in 2009.
Appeals against his conviction and sentence were dismissed by the Court of Appeal in July 2011.
After the death penalty regime under the Misuse of Drugs Act was amended, a re-sentencing application was made, and dismissed by the High Court in September 2017.
A further appeal against this decision, as well as a separate judicial review application, were dismissed in May 2019.
A petition to the president for clemency was also unsuccessful.
The case has been in the limelight for the last few weeks as human rights groups called attention to his intellectual disability and IQ of 69, attracting international media coverage.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Ismail Sabri had also sought leniency on Nagaenthran's behalf, writing directly to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
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Top image via Change.org & Mothership.
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