A Malaysian man has been executed in Singapore on Wednesday after his mother's last-ditch appeal to spare his life was dismissed.
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking 43 grams of heroin into Singapore and was placed on death row for more than a decade.
His execution sparked widespread criticism as his supporters said he had an IQ of 69, a level recognised as a disability, and was coerced into committing the crime.
"It is unbelievable that Singapore proceeded with the execution despite international appeals to spare his life," his sister Sarmila Dharmalingam said.
The 34-year-old was executed in the early hours, she said from Malaysia, leaving her family "extremely saddened" and "in a state of shock".
Nagaenthran spent more than a decade mounting legal challenges, but they were dismissed by Singapore's courts, and the city-state's president rejected appeals for clemency.
Sarmila Dharmalingam, the elder sister of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, displays a portrait of her brother as a young boy. Source: Getty / AFP / Mohd Rasfan
Singaporean authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
Reprieve, a not-for-profit organisation that campaigns against the death penalty, said Nagaenthran was "the victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice".
"Hanging an intellectually disabled, mentally unwell man... is unjustifiable and a flagrant violation of international laws that Singapore has chosen to sign up to," said the group's director, Maya Foa.
"His name will go down in history as the victim of a tragic miscarriage of justice."
'Inhumane'
Nagaenthran was originally scheduled to be hanged in November but that was delayed as he sought to appeal on the grounds that executing someone with mental disabilities contravenes international law.
Authorities have defended his conviction, saying legal rulings found he knew what he was doing at the time of the offence.
His mother mounted a desperate 11th-hour legal challenge on Tuesday, but it was swiftly rejected by a judge, prompting his relatives to break down in tears in court.
The United Nations, European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson are among those condemning the execution.
Mr Branson had urged Singaporean President Halimah Yacob to grant Nagaenthran clemency, calling the death penalty "inhumane".
After exhausting the usual appeals process, presidential clemency was the only avenue remaining to halt the execution.
Nagaenthran's case has sparked concerns in some quarters in Singapore, and hundreds of demonstrators attended two protests against the hanging in recent weeks.
Malaysia Police officers guard the Singapore embassy as activists hold placards and banners against the planned execution of Nagaenthran. Source: AAP / EPA / Fazry Ismail
A petition calling for Ms Yacob to grant him clemency garnered more than 100,000 signatures.
last month after a hiatus of more than two years when it executed another drug trafficker.
Activists now fear authorities are set to embark on a wave of hangings as several other death-row convicts have recently had appeals rejected.
Another Malaysian drug trafficker is scheduled to be hanged on Friday.
Despite mounting pressure to abolish the death penalty, Singapore insists capital punishment is an effective deterrent against crime.
The city-state has a low crime rate and believes the death penalty has helped keep it one of the safest places in Asia.
