Open letter to the President of Singapore, Her Excellency Halimah Yaacob:
On the eve of his impending execution, the Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (DAPSY) Malaysia joins the call for clemency to be granted to Malaysian citizen Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam.
While we do not condone the deed, fully understanding the seriousness of drug trafficking and its impact on communities, we urge Your Excellency to extend mercy to Nagaenthran on grounds of his intellectual disability. In being diagnosed with a lower-than-average IQ of 69 and attention hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), he has unwittingly been caught in a larger scheme of things beyond his comprehension.
We are also concerned with Nagaen’s right to fair representation. The latest developments saw his mother, Panchalai Supermaniam, file a motion on Monday without a lawyer willing to represent her.
Nagaen’s death will not slow the drug trade. Nagaen’s death will not reduce the number of drug users. Neither will Nagaen’s death hinder drug kingpins.
These drug lords will likely never face the death penalty, much less see the inside of a courtroom, while their networks systematically recruit marginalised, desperate, or vulnerable individuals like Nagaen to do their dirty business.
Given that Nagaen’s status as a mentally-challenged individual guarantees him protection under international law and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – which Singapore herself has ratified in 2013, we humbly ask that Your Excellency grant clemency and allow for the transfer of Nagaenthran back to Malaysia to serve his sentence.
Let us not make irreversible decisions for a man who had little or no understanding of making one.