KUALA LUMPUR — Singapore is to execute 38-year-old Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman for drug trafficking this Thursday, his former lawyer M Ravi said.
With just three full days left before Feb 20 Ravi urged the public to sign a petition by Amnesty International calling for the Malaysian government’s intervention in the matter.
“Just heard the devastating news from Pannir’s sister this morning that she received a letter from the prison today that Pannir is going to be executed this Thursday, February 20.
“The only recourse Pannir now has is for the Malaysian government to urgently file an application at the International Court of Justice( ICJ ) to challenge Pannir’s execution under international human rights law,” Ravi said in a Facebook post.
Pannir Selvam has been on death row since 2017, when a Singapore judge convicted him but also found that he had only acted as a “courier” to transport 51.84g of diamorphine in 2014 at the Woordlands checkpoint.
Amnesty International’s petition states that this offence did not meet the “threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’” that justify the use of the death penalty under international law and standards.
Ravi said when he had represented the Malaysian previously in 2020, Pannir Silvan had assisted the authorities in the case but the cooperation he rendered was not certified by the prosecution. As such, the judge imposed the mandatory death penalty.
The lawyer also said that the Court of Appeal had found the Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and Singapore Prison Service (SPS) to have acted unlawfully by requesting and disclosing inmates’ correspondence, thus undermining the administration of the death penalty.
This pertains to confidential information, including privileged communications between inmates and lawyers, that was forwarded by the SPS to the AGC.
“This has certainly undermined the administration of the death penalty in Singapore and the breach is egregious under international law especially when it involved interference with solicitor and client’s privileged information,” said Ravi.
A recent Bernama report states that Malaysia has tried to intervene in death penalty cases in Singapore previously, such as the drug trafficking case involving Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam who had mental disabilities. However, Singapore rejected Malaysia’s appeals for clemency and executed Nagaenthran in 2022.
Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K. Shanmugam, has been reported saying that Singapore cannot waver from its zero-tolerance policy for drug trafficking, including making any exceptions for Malaysia, as it would undermine the rule of law and equality. – February 16, 2025