Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with learning disabilities who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010 and whose case attracted global attention, has been executed in Singapore’s Changi prison.

Nagaenthran, who was arrested after police found a bundle of 42.7 grammes (1.5 oz) of heroin strapped to his thigh, was hanged just before dawn on Wednesday, his family said.

Navin Kumar, Nagaenthran’s brother, told the Reuters news agency that the body would be sent back to Malaysia where a funeral would be held in the northern town of Ipoh.

The Malaysian’s execution came after the Court of Appeal immediately dismissed an effort by the 33-year-old’s mother to halt her son’s execution. The judges said her last-minute plea was “vexatious”.

Last month, the court called legal efforts to save Naga’s life a “blatant and egregious abuse” of the legal process, and that it was “improper to engage in or encourage last ditch attempts” to delay or stop an execution.

Nagaenthran’s case has drawn global attention to Singapore’s continued use of the death penalty, particularly in drug trafficking cases, and sparked renewed debate in the city-state itself.

M Ravi, a lawyer who previously represented Nagaenthran, expressed his grief over Wednesday’s execution on Twitter, saying: “Om Shanti, may your soul rest in peace.”

He added, “You may break us, but not defeat us. Our fight against the death penalty continues.”

On Monday, a few hundred people turned out to show their opposition to the death penalty, gathering in Hong Lim Park, a small patch of ground in the city centre that is the only place where the Singapore government allows public assemblies. There were also small protests outside the Singapore Embassy in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian government, United Nations experts, the European Union, civil society groups and celebrities including British entrepreneur Richard Branson, had also called for Naga’s life to be spared.

“The use of the death penalty for drug-related offences is incompatible with international human rights law,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote in a statement calling on Singapore to halt Naga’s execution. “Countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty may only impose it for the “most serious crimes”, which is interpreted as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing.”

More executions planned

Singapore also plans to hang Datchinamurthy Kataiah, another Malaysian convicted of drug offences, on Friday in what the OHCHR said appeared to be “an alarming acceleration in execution notices in the country”. Abdul Kahar Othman, a Singaporean also convicted of drug-related offences, was hanged on March 30, the first person to be executed by the country in two years.

At least three other men found guilty of drug-related offences, Roslan bin Bakar, Rosman bin Abdullah and Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, are at risk of imminent execution, according to the UN.

In a statement, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Director Erwin van der Borght described the execution of Nagaenthran as a “disgraceful act by the Singapore government” and that it was “pursuing a cruel path that is severely at odds with the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty.”

The city-state has amended sentencing guidelines to allow judges to send people to prison for life rather than impose the mandatory death sentence in some trafficking cases, providing the defendant meets certain conditions. Singapore maintains some of the harshest drug laws in the world and claims the death penalty acts as a deterrent.

More than 50 people are reported to be on death row in Singapore, the UN said.

“This deterrent has been repeatedly discredited, and there is no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime than life imprisonment,” Amnesty’s van der Borght said. “Punitive drug policies mandating harsh punishments have been shown to harm, rather than protect people from problems caused by drugs.”

Malaysia and Indonesia also impose death sentences for drugs crimes, but Malaysia has been reviewing its use in such cases and currently has a moratorium on executions. (Al Jazeera)

PHOTO CAPTION:This undated photo provided by Sarmila Dharmalingam, shows her younger brother Nagaenthran K.Dharmalingam holding his nephew in Ipoh, Malaysia [File: Sarmila Dharmalingam via AP]