Singapore: Execution of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman
The Government of Singapore intends to execute Pannir Selvam Pranthaman at dawn tomorrow. His family received news of the intended execution on Saturday - as it is Pannir’s third notice of execution he has an reduced notice period (which means less time for his family from Malaysia to travel to Singapore to say goodbye and less time to make legal and diplomatic interventions).
Pannir is 38 years old. He was born in Ipoh and is the third of six children in a close-knit Indian Christian family. He is a talented poet and musician.
Pannir was convicted of trafficking 51.48 grams of heroin in May 2017. He was found to be a ‘courier’ under s33B(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act. The Public Prosecutor did not grant him a 'Certificate of Substantive Assistance’ despite his efforts to provide information to police on the drug syndicate he had been involved in (see Pannir’s appeal judgement here).
The Malaysian Bar have released a powerful statement noting that "Importantly, Pannir Selvam has extended his cooperation to the Malaysian law enforcement, assisting in ongoing investigations into a cross-border drug syndicate. To halt his execution and commute his sentence would not only affirm the strength of mercy but also uphold the cause of justice by ensuring that those truly responsible are brought to account”.
Pannir’s stay of execution in February this year was related to an ongoing complaint that Pannir has in relation to his former lawyer currently being investigated by the Law Society of Singapore. In September, the Court of Appeal in Singapore found that this ongoing investigation was *not* a basis for staying the execution and made this macabre recommendation: "This being the case, it may well be necessary for the Law Society, as the entity charged with upholding the public interest in this context, to take appropriate measures where a PACP’s testimony is required in a pending disciplinary proceeding. For example, it may be necessary for the Law Society to expedite these proceedings or to take steps to record or otherwise preserve the evidence of the PACP before he is executed.”
Kirtsten Han has published an update in her newsletter ‘We, The Citizens’:
Ramkarpal Singh, Malaysian MP held a press conference yesterday (full statement is here) confirming that Pannir was interviewed by Malaysian Police (PDRM) on Saturday 27 September 2024 for three hours at Changi prison in relation to a cross-border drug trafficking syndicate. He called for the execution to halted to allow the PDRM investigations to take place given Pannir is clearly a material witness.
A legal application has been filed on behalf of Pannir seeking a stay of execution.
A number of vigils are planned this evening in Singapore across four different venues as Hong Lim Park - the designated ’Speakers’ Corner’ where protests can take place without prior approval under the Public Order Act - happens to be completely unavailable.
ADPAN, Amnesty International, MCCHR, Suaram, Freedom Film Festival and Lawyers for Liberty are also planning a candlelight vigil for Pannir.
For those overseas, please:
Amplify this case in every way possible such as diplomatic channels, governments and law societies.
Join the online campaign to read Pannir’s poetry widely on Instagram (see slide below, his poems can be found here and here)
Amplify the online posts of ADPAN, Amnesty International Malaysia and the team at Transformative Justice Collective (who due to state harassment can’t use most of their online platforms so need to post through allianceagainstdeathpenalty.sg, Kokila and Kirsten).