Singapore has executed a Malaysian man convicted of drug trafficking, despite appeals for clemency on the grounds that he had an intellectual disability.
In a case that has drawn international attention, Nagaenthran Dharmalingam's family confirmed that the 34-year-old had been executed.
Nagaenthran had been on death row for more than a decade for trafficking 44 grams of heroin - equivalent to about three tablespoons - into Singapore, which has some of the world's toughest narcotics laws.
His lawyers had filed multiple appeals against his execution saying he was intellectually disabled.
His brother Navin Kumar, 22, said the execution had been carried out and that his brother's body would be sent back to Malaysia where a funeral would be held in the town of Ipoh.
"It is unbelievable that Singapore proceeded with the execution despite international appeals to spare his life," his sister Sarmila Dharmalingam said.
A Singapore court yesterday turned down a legal challenge put forward by Nagaenthran's mother, clearing the way for the execution.
At the end of yesterday's hearing, Nagaenthran and his family reached through a gap in a glass screen to grasp each others' hands tightly as they wept.
His cries of "ma" could be heard around the courtroom.
About 300 people held a candlelight vigil at a Singapore park on Monday to protest against the planned execution.
Anti-death penalty group Reprieve in a statement described the execution as a "tragic miscarriage of justice", but also said it felt it could be a "watershed moment" for opposition against the death penalty in Singapore.
A vigil was also held outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening appealing for clemency, with one protester carrying a placard reading "Singapore spare Nagaenthran the noose."
"We are unspeakably heartbroken at this incredible cruelty," Amnesty International Malaysia said on Twitter, calling for the fight against the death penalty to continue in his memory.
Nagaenthran's case attracted world attention, with a group of United Nations experts and British billionaire Richard Branson joining Malaysia's prime minister and human rights activists to urge Singapore to commute his sentence.
His lawyers and activists have said Nagaenthran's IQ was found to be 69, a level recognised as an intellectual disability.
However, the courts determined he knew what he was doing at the time of his crime, and ruled there was no admissible evidence showing any decline in his mental condition.
The city-state resumed executions 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 executions as several other death-row convicts have recently had appeals rejected.
Another Malaysian drug trafficker is scheduled to be executed on Friday.
The Singapore government says the death penalty is a deterrent against drug trafficking and most of its citizens support capital punishment.
