Despite criticism and appeals from the international community, the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore has executed a prisoner with severely restricted intellectual and cognitive abilities.

The death sentence against 34-year-old Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was carried out early Wednesday morning, the Malaysian's family reported, according to news agencies.

The judges had rejected a request by the prisoner's mother for a stay of execution on Tuesday.

The then 21-year-old Malaysian was caught in 2009 with 42.72 grams of heroin at the Singapore border and sentenced a year later.

Known for its tough laws, the city-state automatically carries the death penalty for smuggling 15 grams or more of pure heroin.

Till Fähnders

Political correspondent for Southeast Asia.

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Critics see the execution as a violation of international law because the convict was unable to fully understand the consequences of his actions.

Doctors measured him with an intelligence quotient of 69, which is classified as a mental disability.

He was also diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.

The authorities in Singapore, on the other hand, claim that the man was aware of the risks of his act.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had asked Singapore to lift the death sentences on Nagaenthran and another Malaysian whose execution was scheduled for Friday.

She criticized the "alarming" speed at which writs of execution are currently being issued in Singapore.

After the city-state had not carried out any death sentences for two years, Singaporean Abdul Kahar bin Othman was hanged in Changi prison at the end of March at the age of 68.

According to the information, more than 50 convicts are currently awaiting execution in the city-state, most of them for drug-related offenses.

At least three other men may be on the verge of execution.

In its statement, the High Commissioner referred to findings according to which the death penalty was unsuitable as a deterrent.

Singapore should reconsider its continued use of the death penalty.

Citizens of the Southeast Asian country had also spoken out against Nagaenthran's execution during a vigil in the past few days.

A small but active movement against the death penalty has emerged in the city-state.

However, the authorities refer to surveys according to which the majority of the population wants to stick to the maximum penalty as a deterrent in the fight against crime.