Netizens weigh in on the death penalty for Nagaenthran Dharmalingam

Singapore — In an online poll posted to Facebook page SG Opposition on Tuesday (Nov 9), over 600 people responded with their thoughts on the death penalty for Malaysian drug trafficker Nagaenthran Dharmalingam.

Nagaenthran was arrested for drug trafficking over a decade ago at the age of 21 and was sentenced to death for importing 42.72g of heroin into Singapore. When evaluated after his arrest, he was found to have an IQ of 69 and  borderline intellectual functioning. 

Nagaenthran, now 33, said at his trial that he had been coerced into committing the offence by a man who not only assaulted him but also threatened to kill his girlfriend.

The poll, posted by a netizen who goes by the name of Joshua Loke, asked: “Do you agree with the death penalty for drug trafficker Nagaenthran Dharmalingam?”

Respondents had the option of selecting the two responses provided by Joshua — Yes and No — or had the choice of adding their own.

At the time of writing, 416 people voted ‘No’, that they did not agree with the death penalty for Nagaenthran while 127 people agreed with the death penalty. Another netizen who went by the name of Jayakumar posted the response “to kill drug barons and not drug mules”, and this option was chosen by 12 people. Two people voted to hang all drug users.

In the comments, people had various reactions, with some going as far as to debate the type of drug used.

Despite his execution date being less than a day away, the execution of a Malaysian drug trafficker was stayed on Tuesday (Nov 9) by the Court of Appeal, after he tested positive for Covid-19.

On Monday (Nov 8) night, a High Court judge dismissed a last-minute court application against the death sentence of 33-year-old Nagaenthran Dharmalingam. His lawyer M Ravi filed a court application before Justice See Kee Oon, which was heard in chambers and without access to the media.

Mr Ravi’s application was based on Nagaenthran purportedly possessing the mental age of someone below 18, Justice See said in his oral remarks. Mr Ravi argued that judicial mercy should be exercised to grant Nagaenthran a reprieve from the execution of the death sentence and that further psychiatric examinations should be conducted on his mental state.