In a statement, the foreign ministry said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah once again sent a letter to their Singapore counterparts earlier this week asking them to consider reducing Nagaenthran’s sentence.

“The letter also highlighted the Malaysian government’s willingness to discuss the implementation of the international prisoner transfer programme between Malaysia and Singapore,” it said.

While the statement made no mention of Singapore’s reply to their proposal, Wisma Putra said the government respected Singapore’s legal system and thanked the country for the assistance rendered throughout Nagaenthran’s detention and trial.

Wisma Putra also said it was grateful to civil societies and NGOs which had advocated for Nagaenthran’s execution to be halted and pushed for the abolition of the death penalty.

Nagaenthran, 34, from Perak, was said to have an IQ of 69 – a level recognised as a disability. He had been on death row in Singapore since 2010 after he was convicted of smuggling 42.7gm of heroin into the country a year earlier.

Last November, Ismail had written to his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, seeking leniency in the case.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had also written to Singapore president Halimah Yacob appealing for clemency for Nagaenthran, with Halimah stating in December that Nagaenthran had been accorded full due process under the law.