Umno’s Nazri Aziz urges govt to speed up repeal of mandatory death sentence, especially for drug-related offences

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — The government has been urged by Umno’s Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz to speed up the process of repealing the mandatory death sentence, especially for those convicted under Section 39 (B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

When debating Budget 2022, the Padang Rengas MP also called on other MPs to do the same, as those hanged are usually mules, and not the actual drug lords.

This as Nazri highlighted the case of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 33, who was due to be hanged today in Singapore for a drug-trafficking offence committed in 2009, saying Malaysia should act fast and take the moral high ground when seeking clemency for cases like that of Nagaenthran.

“We are MPs. We have the power today to make sure that the death sentence for drugs (is repealed), where more often than not those hanged are not the drug lords but the drug mules, who are normally those from the rural areas, intellectually challenged, or desperate.

“Maybe when the Dangerous Drugs Act was drafted in 1952, we were not MPs. I was not; I was 11 years old. But today, we are MPs and we can make a decision in this Dewan Rakyat to repeal the death sentence,” he said.

Nazri also commended Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for writing to his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong seeking leniency for Nagaenthran, saying it was a bold move with Malaysia not having the moral high ground.

He explained by saying Singapore could have easily questioned Malaysia’s request for leniency with death sentences still being meted out here. 

“So I want to congratulate the PM. Even though he does not have the moral high ground to appeal to another country for our citizen that is to be hanged, he put on a thick face and wrote a letter knowing they could have pointed back at us.

“I urge the government to, as quickly as possible, speed up and stop the mandatory death sentence, especially in drug-related cases,” he said.

Nagaenthran, who has an IQ of 69, tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday, the day before his scheduled execution, which has now been delayed.

This was after a stay of execution was granted pending an appeal at the Singaporean Court of Appeal.

Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 for bringing 42.7g of heroin into Singapore.