PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is open to hold talks with Singapore on the possibility of implementing a prisoner exchange programme in the wake of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam's execution on Wednesday (April 27).

       This comes after letters from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah were sent to their Singapore counterparts last week seeking Nagaenthran's death sentence to be commuted.

       "The letters also stated the Malaysian government's openness in holding discussions with the Singapore government to implement an International Prisoner Exchange Programme," Wisma Putra said in a statement.

       Nagaenthran, 34, was executed in Singapore on Wednesday morning despite pleas and last-minute efforts for his life to be spared.

       The execution came after a Singapore court rejected his final appeal against the death sentence imposed for drug trafficking on March 29.

       He was detained in 2009 and convicted of trafficking 42.72g of heroin in 2010, which carries the mandatory death penalty.

       His appeal against the conviction and sentence were dismissed in 2011.

       His case drew public attention late last year with local as well as international appeals against his death sentence, based on arguments over his intellectual disability.

       Among those calling for clemency were British billionaire Richard Branson and actor Stephen Fry who pleaded for Nagaenthren’s life to be spared in a Twitter video directed to Singaporean leaders President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

       After Ismail and Saifuddin wrote to their counterparts in November, it was followed by a letter written by Yang-diPertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to Halimah in December seeking clemency for Nagaenthran.

       Meanwhile, Wisma Putra noted that the government respected the decision of the courts in Singapore and thanked the assistance given by the Singapore government during Nagaenthran's detention and trial.

       It also thanked the various non-governmental organisations which had put in efforts to prevent Nagaenthran's execution while seeking the abolishment of the death penalty.