Disabled Malaysian loses appeal, will be hanged in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A lawyer and activists say a Malaysian man with a mental disability lost his final legal appeal against his death sentence in Singapore and will be executed soon. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam has been on death row since 2010 for trying to smuggle less than 1.5 ounces of heroin into Singapore. His IQ was revealed earlier to be 69 — a level internationally recognized as an intellectual disability, but the court ruled Nagaenthran knew what he was doing. Previous attempts to reduce his sentence to life in prison or receive a presidential pardon failed. Singapore says it has a “zero-tolerance stance against illicit drugs” and that the death penalty has been made clear at its borders.