A mentally retarded Malaysian was executed today in Singapore, his sister said, after lengthy legal battles and despite a storm of international criticism.
Nagaendran Darmalingham was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin in the city-state, where drug law is one of the most draconian in the world. He was sentenced to the last sentence in 2010.
The decision to execute him by hanging provoked strong reactions due to his mental retardation.
The United Nations, the European Union and the British billionaire Richard Branson, among others, had condemned the verdict and the sentence imposed on him.
For more than ten years, the young man’s defense has appealed to the Singaporean judiciary seeking a reversal of his sentence. They were all rejected by the courts. The president of the city-state rejected the requests to show mercy and to pardon the Malaysian citizen.
The 34-year-old was hanged in the early morning hours, his sister, Sarmila Darmalingham, told the French Agency. “It is unbelievable that Singapore carried out the execution despite international calls not to deprive him of his life,” he said. “His execution causes us great sadness, the whole family is in a state of shock.”
Reprieve, non-governmental organization fighting for the abolition of the death penaltycharacterized the new “victim of a tragic judicial error».
The hanging of the mentally retarded man “is unjustified and a clear violation of international law which Singapore has endorsed,” said Maya Foa, the NGO’s director.
His hanging was originally scheduled for November, but was postponed following a central argument that the execution of anyone mentally retarded or mentally ill violates international law.
He was arrested at the age of 21 when he tried to enter Singapore with a pack of 43 grams of heroin, equal to three tablespoons.
Proponents of his case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. But authorities defended the prosecution, conviction and sentence, assuring that the young man realized that he had done something illegal.
His mother filed a desperate last-minute appeal Tuesday, which was quickly rejected by a judge. At the end of the hearing, family members and the young man joined their hands in a vacuum in the glass divider. His screams – “mom” – were heard throughout the room.
In an interview with Agence France-Presse yesterday, Richard Branson appealed to Singaporean President Halima Jacob to pardon Nagaedran Darmalingham, calling the death sentence “inhumane”.
About 300 people gathered yesterday Monday in a city-state park holding candles to demand that the 34-year-old not be executed.
After being suspended for more than two years, Singapore resumed executions last month: authorities hanged a man who had also been convicted of drug trafficking.
Activists fear a wave of executions; many other death row inmates have seen their appeals dismissed.
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