Execution of a Malaysian with an intellectual disability sparks outrage in Singapore

Singapore authorities have executed a mentally disabled Malaysian man after being convicted of drug smuggling.

Naganthran Dharmalingam was in the "arcade of death" for ten years, for trying to get three spoonfuls of cocaine into Singapore.

The case sparked a wide wave of controversy and anger, because a medical expert took an IQ test for him and found that his degree included him in the category of mentally handicapped, but the government said that he "was fully aware of what he did."

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation «BBC».

And a previous statement to the government stated that it found out that the man “has not lost the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, in what he did.”

The court dismissed his mother's latest appeal, adding that Naganthran had taken advantage of "all opportunities provided by law" and had "exhausted all rights of appeal provided for in more than 11 years".

Naganthran was caught in 2009 trying to insert 43 grams of cocaine into his thigh.

The law in Singapore, known to be among the strictest in the world, provides for the death penalty for anyone caught trying to bring more than 15 grams of cocaine into the country.

At the start of the trial, Naganthran, 34, said he was forced to try to bring in drugs, but then said he did so because he needed money.

The court said his first allegations were "made-up", and sentenced him to death by hanging.

In 2015, he filed an appeal in order to commute the sentence to life on the grounds that he suffers from an intellectual disability.

Lawyers argue that international humanitarian law prohibits the execution of people with mental illness.

But the court decided that he does not have a disability, and last year his request to benefit from a presidential pardon was rejected.

The case aroused widespread indignation and sympathy on social media, and among the interactions were British billionaire Richard Bronson and actor Stephen Fry, who oppose the death penalty.

The two men traveled to Singapore in order to save Naganthran's life.

Thousands signed a petition protesting that international humanitarian law prohibits the execution of people with mental illness.

Rights group Reprieve condemned the execution on Tuesday, describing the ruling as a "judicial error".

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