SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — A Singapore court Tuesday postponed the imminent execution of a Malaysian man whom campaigners say is mentally disabled after he tested positive for Covid-19, meaning a last-ditch appeal could not proceed.
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws. He was sentenced to death the following year.
He was scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday after losing a series of appeals, despite mounting international outrage and supporters’ claims his intellectual disability means he can’t make rational decisions.
The execution was put on hold after a last-resort appeal was lodged, with the Court of Appeal due to hear the challenge Tuesday.
But before the hearing could start, Judge Andrew Phang Boon Leong told the court that Nagaenthran had contracted Covid-19.
“We have to issue a stay of execution,” he said. There was no immediate indication of how long the stay would last for.
© Agence France-Presse
