KUALA LUMPUR: British business magnate Sir Richard Branson as well as actor and writer Stephen Fry have sent out a strong plea to Singapore to spare the life of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a disabled Malaysian man who will be hanged next Wednesday (April 27).
In a video message shared on Branson's Twitter page, both celebrities urged Singapore's president Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to grant Nagaenthran, 34, - known as Nagen to his family - a presidential pardon.
"Only a presidential pardon can stop his executive, and I'm joining many around the world in asking you to use your powers to grant Nagen clemency," billionaire entrepreneur Branson, an anti-death-penalty advocate said in the clip.
Singapore, he said has always led from the front when it came to the rights of people with disabilities and championing their inclusion in society.
"Madam President, Prime Minister, with the eyes of the world on Singapore, Nagen's life rests in your hands."
Branson, in a tweet wrote, "No one with a disability should be treated this way. Help us save him".
He said this in sharing a link to a Reprieve page, a legal action non-governmental organisation who defend people suffering human rights abuses worldwide, calling for the public's support to sign a petition to save Nagaenthran from death.
Meanwhile, Fry said Nagaenthran's execution would cast a dark shadow on many of Singapore's commitments such as in championing the rights of people with disabilities.
"That's a great risk to your country's reputation in the world, including its reputation in the world of business.
"Nagen doesn't deserve to die. Nagen has been living with an intellectual disability as defined under international human rights law. And Nagen's mental state has worsened during his imprisonment.
"In the name of compassion and mercy, please grant Nagaenthran Dharmalingam clemency," Fry said.
On April 20, Singaporean human rights lawyer M. Ravi on his LinkedIn page announced that a Singapore court has set April 27 as the execution date for Nagaenthran, who was arrested in 2009 for bringing 42.7 grams of heroin into the city-state.
He has been on death row in the city-state for over a decade.
Ravi had urged the Malaysian government to file an action in the International Court of Justice and obtain an interim stay.
On April 21, Nagaenthran's mother
Panchalai Supermaniam in a video message sent out a plea to save her son from death.
"Nagaenthran. Save him. Only then there will be some relief. Sorry he has done wrong. Everyone please help."
Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 at the age of 21 for trafficking heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world's toughest drugs laws, and handed a then mandatory death sentence the following year.
He was originally scheduled to be hanged in November, but the plan sparked criticism due to concerns about his intellectual disabilities, with the European Union and Branson among those condemning it.
The 34-year-old lodged a final appeal, with his lawyers arguing that executing someone with mental disabilities violated international law.
AFP had on March 29 reported that Nagaenthran's supporters had said he has an IQ of 69 – a level recognised as a disability – and was coerced into committing the crime.
It said authorities, however, have defended his conviction, saying that legal rulings found he "knew what he was doing" at the time of the offence.
Singapore maintained the death penalty for several offences, including drug trafficking and murder, and insists it has helped to keep the state one of Asia's safest places.