A Singapore court on Monday temporarily halted the planned execution of a mentally disabled man convicted of trafficking drugs pending an appeal, a small victory for anti-death-penalty campaigners in the city-state.

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       Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a 33-year old Malaysian man, was set to be executed Wednesday by hanging. Dharmalingam was found guilty of trafficking 1.5 ounces of heroin in 2009 and sentenced to death, which at the time was the mandatory punishment for his crime.

       He unsuccessfully tried to reduce his sentence to life in prison after changes to the death penalty took effect in 2013. Dharmalingam also lost an appeal against his conviction and has since been held in solitary confinement.

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       In a last-ditch attempt, lawyer M. Ravi, who represents more than a dozen convicts on death row, filed a petition for a stay of execution, arguing that the decision to hang Dharmalingam was unconstitutional. The High Court struck down that argument, but according to due process, Ravi can appeal that decision.

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       The execution is now halted until the constitutional appeal is heard on Tuesday, alongside a separate appeal for psychiatrists to assess Dharmalingam. If both appeals are unsuccessful, he will be hanged as scheduled on Wednesday.

       Singapore is set to execute mentally disabled man for trafficking 1.5 ounces of heroin

       If executed this week, he will be the first to be hanged in the city-state since 2019 and since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

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       The plight of Dharmalingam and his family has garnered significant attention in Singapore and neighboring Malaysia as a particularly punitive case, even in a city-state known for exceptionally harsh drug laws. Dharmalingam has an IQ of 69, a level recognized as an intellectual disability. During his trial, an independent psychiatrist diagnosed him with mental and intellectual impairment. Richard Branson, the billionaire British business magnate and a prominent anti-death-penalty campaigner, also released an appeal Monday in support of Dharmalingam.

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       In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs said a court during his resentencing appeal assessed whether Dharmalingam’s mental responsibility for his actions “was substantially impaired” and held that he knew what he was doing, upholding the death sentence.

       “Singapore adopts a zero-tolerance stance against illicit drugs,” the statement said. “The penalties, including the death penalty, for the illegal trafficking, importation or exportation of drugs are made clear at our borders, to warn traffickers and syndicates of the harsh penalties they potentially face.”

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       Exacerbating the pain for Dharmalingam’s Malaysia-based family are travel restrictions that have made it challenging and isolating for his family to see him in person and say goodbye. A crowdfunding campaign raised more than $14,000 to cover coronavirus tests, quarantine hotel fees and other costs for his underprivileged family to travel to Singapore. Dharmalingam’s mother works as a cleaner in the Malaysian city of Ipoh.

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       In a rare intervention, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob wrote to his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, to ask the state to spare Dharmalingam. He wrote that the appeal could be considered “purely on humanitarian grounds.” Singapore’s president, whose role is largely ceremonial, has the power to grant clemency to any convict on death row.

       Both Singapore and Malaysia impose capital punishment for drug trafficking, but the death penalty in Malaysia is currently under moratorium.

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       On Monday, more than 200 family members and friends of prisoners who have lived on death row in Singapore wrote a letter to the country’s president, Halimah Yacob, urging her to grant clemency to Dharmalingam.

       “Society looks for neat stories of who are the ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys.’ Many families like ours live in the reality of grey areas,” they wrote. “With love, hope and determination in our hearts, we plead with President Halimah Yacob to stop the execution of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam.”

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