Final hours: UN experts urge S'pore to halt execution, tells M'sia to act

Summary

• United Nations experts appeal to the Singapore and Malaysian governments ahead of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s execution tomorrow.

• They urge Putrajaya to “take any steps at their disposal to support Pannir’s case”.

United Nations (UN) experts have urged Singapore to halt the execution of Malaysian prisoner Pannir Selvam Pranthaman for drug trafficking.

The 37-year-old is scheduled to be hanged tomorrow at dawn. He was informed of the execution on Sunday (Feb 16).

The seven experts also called on Malaysian authorities to “take any steps at their disposal to support Pannir’s case”.

“We have repeatedly called on Singapore to halt executions for drug offences which are illegal under international human rights law on several grounds,” said the experts in an article posted on the UN website.

“We reiterate that under international law, only crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing meet the threshold for the death penalty. Mandatory death sentences are inherently over-inclusive and inevitably violate human rights law,” they said.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty does more than any other punishment to curb or prevent drug trafficking,” they added.

The experts are:

• Morris Tidball-Binz, UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions

• Margaret Satterthwaite, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers

• Matthew Gillett, chair rapporteur for the UN working group on arbitrary detention

• Ganna Yudkivska, vice-chair (communications) of the UN working group on arbitrary detention

• Priya Gopalan, vice-chair (follow up) of the working group on arbitrary detention

• Miriam Estrada Castillo, international expert of the working group on arbitrary detention

• Mumba Malila, member of the working group on arbitrary detention

Warning that the rate of execution notices for drug-related offences in Singapore was “highly alarming”, the experts noted that eight have already been executed on these charges since Oct 1, 2024, a period of just four-and-a-half months.

“We once again urge Singaporean authorities to halt the execution of Pannir and commute his death sentence to imprisonment in line with international human rights law and standard,” they said.

The experts have also written to the governments of Singapore and Malaysia regarding this case.

‘A mere courier’

In a separate statement, Suhakam urged Putrajaya to intensify its diplomatic efforts in appealing to the Singaporean government to halt the execution and seek clemency on behalf of Pannir.

“Pannir, a mere courier, has been sentenced to death under a mandatory penalty that disregards the mitigating circumstances of his case.

“This sentence is a stark deviation from international human rights standards, and we are deeply concerned about the irreversible consequences of capital punishment, especially in instances where mercy and leniency should be considered,” the human rights commission added in support of the statement by the UN experts.

Putrajaya has yet to respond to appeals for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to intervene in the matter. Apart from Pannir’s family, four government MPs also made the appeal.

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