Singapore: dismay over death sentence of man with learning disabilities

[Tilly lavenas]

Dear Friends

Please send this letter or in your own words about Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who has learning disabilities and has been in prison since 2010 for smuggling a small amount of heroin into Singapore. He was due to be executed tomorrow but it has been postponed because he has tested positive for Covid. A new date has yet to be set. Thanks! Tilly & Guy

Halimah Yacob

President of Singapore
Office of the President of the Republic of Singapore
Orchard Road 238823
Singapore
istana_...@istana.gov.sg

Dear President Yacob,
 
I am writing on behalf of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who was sentenced to death for importing drugs. It has been reported that there is evidence that he was forced to courier drugs as a victim of human trafficking and that he is hallucinating, incoherent, and imagining his prison cell as a garden in which he is safe.
 
Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam has an IQ of 69, a level recognised as indicating a learning disability, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, As you will be aware, international law prohibits capital punishment for people with mental or intellectual disabilities. Proceeding with the execution of someone who does not understand the consequences of his actions, nor his rights in court, would cast serious doubts on Singapore’s willingness to uphold international law.

 
I urge you to immediately intervene to commute his sentence.
 
Best wishes
 
Please send a copy to the ambassador in your country
HE Mr Thuan Kuan Lim
High Commission for the Republic of Singapore
9 Wilton Crescent
London SW1X 8SP
singh...@mfa.sg

HE Ashok Kumar Mirpuri
Embassy of Singapore
3501 International Place, NW
Washington, DC 20008
singe...@mfa.sg
 
 
For more information about Amnesty’s Urgent Action 109/21, 3 November 2021: https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ASA3649462021ENGLISH.pdf
 

An update in today’s Guardian: https://bit.ly/3CZINOl