A man with limited mental capacity executed this morning had no objections to his case being decided by the same man who prosecuted him, according to the public prosecutors’ office.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers, or AGC, today denied allegations that 34-year-old Nagaenthran 鈥淣agen鈥 Dharmalingam did not get an impartial review of his death penalty appeal due to a conflict of interest.
Singapore executes 鈥榣ow IQ鈥 prisoner despite desperate appeals
This came after Nagen鈥檚 mother, Panchalai Supermaniam, filed a final urgent appeal on Monday that argued Chief Justice Menon’s role in her son’s appeal “fundamentally breached” chances of a fair trial. Menon was Singapore’s attorney-general in 2010 when Nagen was convicted of trafficking heroin from Malaysia.
The AGC said that Nagen, whose IQ was believed to be 69, had not objected to Menon’s involvement since 2016 and found it 鈥渂aseless鈥 to now say he was denied a fair review.
鈥淚t was also telling that he never raised any concerns from December 2016 to just two days before his rescheduled execution, which suggests this allegation is an afterthought and not made in good faith,鈥 AGC wrote in a release.
It also said Menon was not included in the decision-making of Nagen鈥檚 prosecution from October 2010 to June 2012.
Capital punishment critics and Nagen’s supporters expressed dismay at the basis of the dismissal.
鈥淭he application was separately labelled as ‘frivolous’, ‘vexatious’, ‘reprehensible’, ‘abusive conduct’. Is it so wrong to try and save your family鈥檚 life?鈥 criminal justice reform group Transformative Justice Collective wrote in a statement.
鈥淚 am angry about a court system that would look at a scared mother and pontificate about the sanctity of court processes as if that鈥檚 more important, more valuable, than her son鈥檚 life,鈥 progressive reporter Kirsten Han wrote.
The AGC noted that the “last-minute application鈥 had been Nagen鈥檚 seventh application, not including appeals, since a previous one was dismissed in 2011.
Correction: The headline of this story has been changed to accurately reflect the statement from the Attorney-General’s Chamber.
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