Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was hanged at Singapore's Changi jail. He was a Malaysian with intellectual difficulties who was convicted of heroin trafficking in 2010 and whose case garnered worldwide attention.
Naga, who was arrested when police discovered a bag of 42.7 grammes (1.5 oz) of heroin tied to his thigh, was hung just before daybreak on Wednesday, according to his family.
The Malaysian was executed after the Court of Appeal denied an appeal by the 34-year-mother old's seeking to delay his execution. Her last-minute request was deemed "vexatious" by the judges.
Last month, the court said that legal efforts to preserve Naga's life constituted a "blatant and flagrant misuse" of the legal process and that it was "improper to participate in or support last ditch efforts" to postpone or halt an execution.
Naga's case has brought international attention to Singapore's persistent use of the death sentence, notably in drug trafficking cases, and reignited discussion inside the city-state.
On Monday, a few hundred people gathered in Hong Lim Park to demonstrate their opposition to the death sentence. Hong Lim Park is a tiny strip of land in the city center that is the sole location where the government permits public assemblies. The Malaysian government, United Nations experts, the European Union, civil society organizations, and celebrities, notably British entrepreneur Richard Branson, have all pleaded with the Malaysian authorities to save Naga's life.
"The death sentence for narcotics offenses is incompatible with international human rights law," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement urging Singapore to postpone Naga's execution. "Countries that have not yet abolished the death sentence may apply it only for the "most heinous offenses," defined as those involving intentional killing.
Singapore also intends to execute Datchinamurthy Kataiah, another Malaysian convicted of narcotics offenses, on Friday, in what the OHCHR described as a "alarming acceleration in the country's execution notifications." Abdul Kahar Othman, another Singaporean convicted of drug-related offenses, was hung on March 30, becoming the country's first execution in two years.
According to the UN, at least three further prisoners convicted of drug-related offenses, Roslan bin Bakar, Rosman bin Abdullah, and Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, face imminent death.
The city-state revised its sentencing rules to enable judges to impose a life sentence in some drug trafficking cases in lieu of the obligatory death penalty provided certain circumstances are met. Singapore has among of the strictest drug regulations in the world and asserts that the death penalty serves as a deterrence.
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