Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

The execution of convicted Malaysian drug trafficker, Nagaenthran A/L K Dharmalingam, has been delayed as Singapore's Court of Appeal reserved judgement on an appeal that was heard on Tuesday (March 1) morning.

Nagaenthran, 34, appeared in court in a purple prison jumpsuit with his head shaven.

The court's public gallery was full, with several members of the media, both local and international, in attendance.

Reserve judgement

Nagaenthran's case was heard by a five-judge panel consisting Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Andrew Phang, Justice Judith Prakash, Justice Belinda Ang and Justice Chao Hick Tin.

"We will reserve judgement and come back to you soon," said Chief Justice Menon, before he concluded the roughly one-hour hearing.

While he did not clarify when the verdict will be passed, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Wong Woon Kwong told the media after the hearing that the ruling will not be made by March 1.

Nagaenthran was represented by lawyer Violet Netto.

His previous legal counsel, M. Ravi, was also in attendance to "provide technical support", Netto told the Chief Justice in court.

Ravi is currently on medical leave and cannot practise law, but he said in a Facebook post prior to the hearing that he will be assisting Netto.

The defence's arguments

Not competent for execution

The main part of Netto's arguments pertains to Nagaenthran being not competent for execution.

It was argued he is not capable of understanding why he has received the death penalty, and the effect of the penalty.

Netto put forth the argument that Nagaenthran is a person with mental disabilities, and substantiated this claim with the submission of three reports by "experts", two of which were from Daniel Sullivan from Australia and Peter Schapveld from the UK.

As per Sullivan's recommendations, Netto appealed to the court for Nagaenthran to be examined by a team of "independent" psychiatrists, who will then reach a "conjoined" opinion on Nagaenthran's mental facilities.

Netto added that Ravi is presently in contact with "a number of psychiatrists" to look into their availability.

She requested for "adequate time" from the court to do so and for a leave of judicial review.

Not in accordance to international law

Adding on to her argument, Netto said Nagaenthran's execution would not be in accordance with international human rights laws for the intellectually disabled and mentally ill.

She said: "The substance of appeal is that he has a disability and cannot be executed."

Response from Chief Justice

International treaties have no effect in Singapore

In response to Netto, Chief Justice Menon said Singapore is a "dualist jurisdiction".

This, he explained, meant that international treaties have no effect on domestic law unless there is specific legalisation by Parliament.

"Even if there was a treaty that would be violated, it does not impact domestic court that is passing a domestic judgement," he said.

He added that Singapore has "clear and unambiguous" laws in place for Nagaenthran's offence, and that customary international law cannot be interpretively incorporated into, nor "withstand", Singapore's domestic law.

Medical reports submitted by defence not credible

Addressing Netto's appeal for Nagaenthran to be medically examined independently, Chief Justice Menon questioned Netto on why she stopped the court from looking at Nagaenthran's medical and psychiatric reports from Singapore Prison Service (SPS) as this will "provide an objective record of the subject's competency for execution".

This, he said, was the "best evidence" that there exists a "real issue" for the court to look into.

In response to the three medical reports Netto submitted, Chief Justice Menon said none of the reports "emanate from people who have examined Nagaenthran".

He added that these reports were written based on the observations from Nagaenthran' brother and Ravi himself, and that none of these were "based on an opinion with qualification".

Prosecution's rebuttals

No ground to support that Nagaenthran is incompetent

DPP Wong contested Netto's claim that Nagaenthran is not competent for execution and explained that there is "no ground" to support this allegation.

He said there was "no reliable evidence" from Netto which can substantiate her claim that Nagaenthran’s mental capacity has deteriorated such that he is not competent for execution.

He also opposed Netto's application for Nagaenthran to be assessed by any psychiatric panel, and noted Netto's efforts to "suppress objective medical records of the appellant from this court, for this court to ascertain the true nature of the appellant’s medical status".

"Last-minute attempts" of delaying judicial process

Additionally, Wong argued against Netto's appeal to file for a criminal review, and mentioned that Ravi, Nagaenthran's defence then, had failed to follow up when it was previously granted leave in November 2021.

This, Wong said, was one of the defence's many "last-minute attempts" of delaying the judicial process, and that "there is no reason of excuse for the manner that the case is conducted".

Abuse of process by the defence

Wong further added that the hearing on March 1 was a "continuation of a very cynical attempt to abuse the process of court", a point that was also raised by both Cheif Justice Menon and Justice Phang.

Chief Justice Menon admonished Netto for filing in Nagaenthran's latest two-page medical report by Sullivan only at 10:08am on March 1, just minutes before the hearing, and called her delay a "mockery" saying:

"This appears to be an abuse of process. It appears to be calculated to delay the resolution of the matter... As an officer of the court, it’s your duty to assist of the prompt discharge of matters. Is there an explanation?"

To this, Netto apologised to the court and said she was unwell and had "issues" she was attending to.

She declined to comment further on the nature of her "issues" despite being probed multiple times by Chief Justice Menon.

Justice Phang, meanwhile, said that Netto's "drip-feeding", where she submitted the last-minute applications "one-by-one", was not fair to the court process.

"It's an abuse of court, I’ll be very direct with you," he said.

In response, Netto asked for judicial mercy and told the court to "bear in mind" that both Ravi and herself are on medical leave.

Prosecution: Nagaenthran should apply for clemency

Towards the end of the hearing, Chief Justice Menon asked DPP Wong if a prisoner should seek clemency in the hypothetical scenario that the prisoner's mental capacity has been found to have deteriorated by the time of his execution, and that this point is not "controversial".

In response, Wong said such inmates should seek clemency from the president instead of going by the law.

Separately, he told the media after the hearing that it is up to Nagaenthran to apply for presidential clemency.

Nagaenthran, who has been on death row since 2010, has filed multiple appeals over the years and asked for clemency from the president of Singapore. All have been rejected.

Execution scheduled for November 2021 initially

Nagenthran's execution was initially scheduled for Nov. 10, 2021.

On Nov. 8, 2021, according to updates on Ravi's Facebook page, the High Court heard his argument that executing Nagaenthran would be unconstitutional. But, it was dismissed.

However, Ravi said that the High Court also granted a stay of execution, pending an appeal against its decision.

The appeal was heard the next day on Nov. 9, 2021 at the Court of Appeal.

Nagaenthran appeared in court in person 12 minutes before the hearing but he was later taken away.

The court was subsequently informed by a judge that Nagaenthran had tested positive for Covid-19.

Related stories

Follow and listen to our podcast here:

Top images via M. Ravi/FB & Mothership.