Civil societies and public plead for the commutation of the death sentence.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry, via the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore, will continue to monitor the progress of Malaysian detainee Nagaenthran Dhamalingam’s case and will provide appropriate consular assistance to him and his family.
Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said in a statement on Wednesday (Nov 3) he had also sent a letter to his Singaporean counterpart Dr Vivian Balakrishnan regarding the case.
This came as civil societies and the public pleaded for the commutation of the death sentence of Nagaenthran, who is to be executed next Wednesday (Nov 10) in Singapore.
Saifuddin said he had also received a letter from the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) through Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah informing him of Nagaenthran’s impending execution and requesting the Foreign Ministry to raise the case with the Singapore government.
Saifuddin’s statement came just hours after about two dozen civil societies and groups today lobbied Parliament to intervene in Nagaenthran’s case.
The groups gathered at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur this morning and marched towards Parliament’s entrance around 9.30am to hand in a memorandum.
Police were seen guarding the main road leading to Parliament Hill, and the groups gathered near the roadblock to wait for Parliament officials to meet them.
The memorandum was received by Luqman Refid, the private secretary to Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto (DAP), who issued a statement on Nagaenthran yesterday, arrived and met with the groups around 10am.
Speaking to the media, Kasthuri repeated her call for the Malaysian government to intervene in Nagaenthran’s case and urged Singapore to stop the execution.
“Please don’t forget that Nagaenthran is a member of the Malaysian family.
“We beg the Singaporean government to not execute him on Nov 10, and we beg our government to intervene.
“It is a moral responsibility. He’s a Malaysian who is on death row and is mentally unstable,” she said.
Kasthuri said that there is no doubt Nagaenthran committed a crime, but it would be cruel to execute an intellectually challenged person.
Simpang Renggam MP Maszlee Malik also came and met with the group, but he did not speak to the media.
Nagaenthran was convicted for trafficking in 42.27gm of heroin and the courts in Singapore had upheld his death sentence despite repeated appeals.
His defence team argued that Nagaenthran has an IQ of 69, lower than the average human IQ of 85-115, and thus his mental judgment was significantly impaired.
“We’re not asking for him to be freed, we’re merely asking to commute his death penalty to a life sentence,” Kasthuri explained.
She added that while she has not met Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to discuss the case, she will be sending a letter to the European Union office and Singapore High Commission.
The Malaysian Bar has also submitted a letter of appeal to the Singaporean High Commission seeking clemency for Nagaenthran.
Malaysian Bar President AG Kalidas stated that the letter urging the Singapore government to commute the sentence of Nagaenthran was based on the fact that his mental capacities have diminished since his punishment was given out.