Singapore faced calls Friday not to hang a mentally disabled Malaysian man for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, wit
Singapore faced calls Friday not to hang a mentally disabled Malaysian man for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, with campaigners criticising the planned execution as "despicable".
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for transporting 43 grams -- equivalent to about three tablespoons -- of the drug into Singapore, and sentenced to death the following year.
After exhausting a series of legal challenges in the city-state, which has some of the world's toughest anti-narcotics laws, the 33-year-old is set to be hanged on Wednesday.
It will be the first execution since 2019 in Singapore, which maintains the death penalty is an effective deterrent against crime despite mounting pressure from rights groups for its abolition.
Supporters say that Nagaenthran has an IQ of just 69, a level that is recognised as an intellectual disability, and was struggling with an alcohol problem at the time of the crime.
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