Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam was a Malaysian man who had been arrested for importing 42.72g of diamorphine (heroin) at the age of 21. He was convicted and sentenced to death under Singapore's harsh drug laws.

Nagaen was assessed to have an IQ of 69 — a level internationally recognised as an intellectual disability — as well as impaired executive functioning and ADHD. There were also concerns about his mental health after over a decade of incarceration on death row, where prisoners have to live in single cells in circumstances of extreme social isolation.

Nagaen's case drew widespread international and local attention, especially after his family were first given an execution notice in the middle of the pandemic when crossing borders was still a challenge. The #SaveNagaenthran campaign received unprecedented attention and support, drawing Singaporeans' attention towards the cruelty of the capital punishment regime.

Despite all these efforts, the state refused to budged and hanged Nagaen on 27 April 2022.

Vigil at Hong Lim Park (25 April 2022)

Online Petition

Solidarity from Other Families

In an unprecedented move, 237 family members and friends of prisoners who have lived on death row rallied together to call for mercy to be shown to Nagaenthran.

The letter (embedded below), signed by the loved ones of 13 different current and former death row prisoners and addressed to President Halimah Yacob, was a piercing indictment of the trauma and hardship that those on death row endure, and the devastating ripple effects on the families and communities of those condemned to death.

Clemency Letters

Once an individual loses their appeal in the courts, their final option is to petition the President of the Republic of Singapore for clemency. The President, acting on the advice of the Cabinet, is empowered under the law to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment.

Anyone inclined to do so is able to submit their own pleas for clemency on behalf of death row prisoners. You can send it in via email, by mail, or by delivering it to the Istana in person.

Below are a series of clemency letters that were signed by a total of more than 1000 individuals from various walks of life.

Each letter expressed the deep concerns that various groups had about Nagaen's imminent execution. They called for the commutation of Nagaen's death sentence to time served, and demanded for the release of Nagaen to his family. These clemency letters were hand-delivered by volunteers to the President and Cabinet of Singapore.