A Singapore court on Tuesday rejected a final appeal by a man sentenced to death for drug trafficking, following a campaign by his lawyers who said the trial violated international laws as the man has intellectual disabilities.
The ruling ends all legal avenues to stop his execution and supporters say he could be hanged within days. The case has drawn international attention — including from the United Nations, Malaysia’s Prime Minister and British billionaire Richard Branson — and put the city-state’s zero-tolerance drug laws back under scrutiny.
“We are extremely concerned about rushed hearings and decisions in this case, in violation of Nagaenthran’s fair trial rights. Nagaenthran should be protected from the death penalty because of his intellectual disability,” Reprieve director Maya Foa said in a statement. “The heart-wrenching fact that he believes he is going home to his family and talks about sharing home-cooked meals with them shows that he does not fully understand he faces execution and lacks the mental competency to be executed.”
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