SINGAPORE’S top court has postponed the appeal hearing for a Malaysian man on death row believed to be mentally disabled after he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, 33, was scheduled to be executed by hanging today for trying to smuggle a small amount of heroin into the country, less than 43 grams.

Mr Dharmalingam was sentenced to death in November 2010 under Singapore’s strict anti-drug laws.

Previous attempts to reduce his sentence to life in prison or receive a presidential pardon have all failed.

His defence lawyer, M Ravi, has based his appeal on the argument that executing a mentally disabled person is a violation of Singapore’s constitution.

He said he that will use the extra time to bolster his case.

Death penalty opponents say that Mr Dharmalingam’s IQ of 69 was disclosed during an earlier lower court hearing, a level that is internationally recognised as an intellectual disability.

But the court ruled that he knew what he was doing and upheld the death sentence.

Legal experts, including from the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network and Amnesty International, have called the execution of an intellectually disabled man inhumane and a violation of international law.