Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, the Malaysian man who was sentenced to death in Singapore for drug trafficking, was executed by hanging earlier today (Apr. 27, 2022).

According to Reuters, Nagaenthran's brother confirmed via a telephone call that the execution had been carried out.

His sister also confirmed the news to the BBC.

A wake is currently being held in Singapore at 38 Sin Ming Drive.

It began at 1pm on Apr. 27 and will end at 4pm.

Nagaenthran's funeral will be held in Ipoh, Malaysia.

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.

Nagaenthran's case had also attracted international media coverage as rights groups called attention to his intellectual disability and IQ of 69.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a Nov. 5, 2021 statement that the High Court found that Nagaenthran "knew what he was doing" when he committed the offence.

In response to media queries, MHA noted that both Singapore's High Court and the Court of Appeal had held that Nagaenthran's mental responsibility was not substantially impaired with regard to his offence.

"Nagaenthran was found to have 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," MHA said.

Top images by M Ravi/FB & Fiona Tan.