A group of 12 PKR MPs have called on Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to write to the Singapore government for a stay of execution for Malaysian death-row inmate Pannir Selvam Pranthaman.

In a statement today, the MPs said this should be done while the police continue their investigation into the leaders of the drug syndicate who recruited Pannir, after a police report made by an independent witness in March.

The group said the witness report has provided more information on two senior members of the Malaysian syndicate who recruited Pannir.

“We sincerely hope that these latest efforts will result in the arrests of these leaders of the drug syndicate and convince the Singapore government to issue to Pannir a certificate of substantive assistance, thus converting his death sentence to life imprisonment,” the MPs said.

The statement was signed by:

  1. Wong Chen

  2. Rafizi Ramli

  3. Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh

  4. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

  5. Bakhtiar Wan Chik

  6. R Yuneswaran

  7. S Kesavan

  8. Tan Kar Hing

  9. Onn Abdul Bakar

  10. Lee Chean Chung

  11. Zahir Hassan 

  12. Rodziah Ismail

Pannir was convicted on May 2, 2017, of acting as a courier to import 51.84g of diamorphine, an offence that carries the mandatory death penalty.

Pannir Selvam Pranthaman

On Sept 5, the Singapore High Court dismissed Pannir’s bid for a stay of execution, pending proceedings related to his complaint to the Law Society against his former lawyer.

‘Pannir may be executed very soon’

Commenting on this, the lawmakers said the situation creates a high risk of Pannir’s execution occurring in “the coming weeks, if not days”.

“We, the undersigned, are against the mandatory death penalty because of its inherent risk of disproportionately executing minor drug mules, as in Pannir’s case, and its overall incompatibility with human rights,” they added.

They noted that Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty in 2023, compared to Singapore, where executions are still carried out at a high rate.

According to Bernama, Pannir’s appeal was dismissed by the Singapore Court of Appeal on Feb 9, 2018, while his petition for clemency to the republic’s president has been rejected.

He was granted a stay of execution twice - the first in May 2019, as he intended to challenge the rejection of his clemency petition as well as the public prosecutor’s decision not to issue a certificate of substantive assistance to him.

The second occurred on Feb 20, pending the determination of his Post-Appeal Applications in Capital Cases application.

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