On Monday (8 Nov), Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was granted a stay of execution (a delay in carrying out a court order) two days before he was scheduled to be hanged.
The 31-year-old has been on death row ever since he was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2010 for importing 42.72g of heroin into Singapore.
His lawyer, M Ravi, had argued before the High Court that it would be “unlawful” to put his client to death, given his low IQ score and mental age.
Yesterday (9 Nov), it was reported that Nagenthran was granted a further stay of execution, but only because he had contracted COVID-19.
So, what exactly happened?
Had Transient Contact with COVID-Positive Staff
According to the Singapore Prison Service (SPS), Nagaenthran had undergone both an antigen rapid test (ART) and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on Monday.
When his ART came back negative, Nagaenthran was brought to court the next day for a last-minute appeal against his death sentence.
However, he was only inside for a couple of minutes before being taken away as the judge informed the court that the 31-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19.
SPS said it had informed the court of the test result on Tuesday afternoon, after which Nagaenthran was isolated.
It seems that several inmates and staff members in the same housing block have tested positive for COVID-19 as well. Nagaenthran opted not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and had “transient contact” with two staff members who had tested positive, SPS said.
“Given the number of cases in the community during this phase of the pandemic, more cases of infection are likely to arise in the prisons as well, and SPS has taken steps to ensure that the situation remains under control,” it said.
Nagaenthran is now “well and asymptomatic”, it added. SPS noted that there are glass panels in court which separated Nagaenthran from the rest of the public.
Date of Execution to be Fixed After Recovery
Due to this positive test result, the Court of Appeal granted a stay of execution with immediate effect until all “pending proceedings are concluded.”
“Nagaenthran will receive medical attention and proceedings will resume on a date to be fixed, after Nagaenthran has recovered,” SPS said.
Court of Appeal Has Dismissed 2 Appeals So Far
The appeal, when it proceeds, will be Nagaenthran’s third and possibly final appeal. He had lodged two since his conviction, both of which were dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which is Singapore’s highest court.
Mr Ravi argued that it would be unconstitutional to execute Nagaenthran given his “prima facie severe mental disabilities.” The lawyer pointed out that his client has an IQ of 69 and a “mental age of 18”.
The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) said there was “no credible basis” for such assertions over his mental age, and noted that Mr Ravi has objected to producing records of Nagaenthran’s latest psychiatric assessments.
At the time of writing, an online petition which is calling for a presidential pardon for Nagaenthran has reached nearly 78,000 signatures.
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