'Putrajaya betrayed him': Govt accused of 'aiding' Pannir’s execution

Putrajaya has been accused of driving the final nail into Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s coffin, with his lawyer condemning the government's statement in Parliament hours before his execution as a “great act of betrayal” that helped pave the way for his execution in Singapore.

In a scathing statement today, N Surendran (above) slammed Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah’s remark in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 7, that Pannir’s information to police was “of no operational value.”

Surendran highlighted that the comment came just hours before the Singapore Court of Appeal was to hear his final stay of execution.

Describing the remark as “highly prejudicial” and “factually wrong," Surendran said the possibility of halting Pannir's execution was "effectively ended" by the "reckless and baseless" statement.

"The government was fully aware that Pannir’s last-ditch application to stop the execution was just hours away. Why did they make such a factually wrong and hasty statement at this critical point?

"This was a great act of betrayal by the Madani government, and it cannot be forgotten or forgiven," Surendran said.

Stressing that every government has a duty to protect the rights and interests of its citizens who may be in trouble abroad, the former MP alleged that Putrajaya did the opposite in Pannir’s case.

"It is significant that Singapore’s CNB (Central Narcotics Bureau), in a statement justifying Pannir’s execution, relied upon the statement made by the Madani government in Parliament on Oct 7.

"While many Malaysians were hoping and praying that Pannir would get a second chance, our own government, by their actions, had helped the execution to proceed on Oct 8," Surendran lamented.

‘Why the haste?’

He also questioned the government's “indecent haste” in dismissing information that Pannir had provided to Malaysian police just days before his execution.

He noted that Bukit Aman officers had interviewed Pannir for more than three hours at Singapore’s Changi Prison on Sept 27, during which Pannir was asked to identify suspects from photographs linked to cross-border drug operations.

“How is it possible that in less than 10 days, the Madani government concluded there was no value in the information given?

“How could the police have carried out a proper probe into a complex, cross-border criminal network in such a short time?” Surendran asked.

He said the rushed conclusion and the timing of the statement raised serious questions about Putrajaya’s motives.

Such supposed haste to dismiss new evidence, he argued, is shown by the fact that the deputy home minister "wrongly claimed" that Pannir was not a mere courier.

Surendran said this claim was “blatantly false”, pointing out that the Singapore High Court, in its written judgment, had explicitly stated that Pannir was indeed a mere courier.

“This is tantamount to misleading Parliament and the public. No retraction or explanation has been given by the Madani government.

"If they got such a basic fact wrong in their parliamentary statement, what else did they get wrong?” he asked.

Family deserves answers

Surendran said Pannir’s family, who laid him to rest in Ipoh on Oct 10, now deserve answers and accountability from the government “that failed to stand by one of its own citizens when it mattered most.”

He urged the government to issue an immediate apology to Pannir’s family and explain how such a "damaging and inaccurate" statement was made in Parliament on the eve of an execution.

“The Madani government owes Malaysians an explanation,” Surendran said.

“Those responsible for this reckless act must be held to account, so that no other Malaysian abroad will ever face the same betrayal again.”

On Oct 8, Pannir became the second Malaysian that the Singapore authorities executed within less than two weeks, with K Datchinamurthy being executed on Sept 25.

The 38-year-old was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in May 2017 for importing not less than 51.84g of diamorphine into Singapore.

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