Latest news with #PannirSelvam
Free Malaysia Today
06-05-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Activists renew plea for Singapore to spare Pannir
Activists gathered outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur tonight to urge the Singaporean government to commute Malaysian P Pannir Selvam's death sentence. KUALA LUMPUR : A group of about 20 activists have renewed calls for the Malaysian government, as Asean chair, to urge Singapore to commute Malaysian P Pannir Selvam's death sentence. Members of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and Amnesty International Malaysia gathered outside the Singapore High Commission here tonight, where they held placards and chanted slogans such as 'Give Pannir a second chance', 'Abolish the death penalty' and 'Free Pannir'. Pannir, a 38-year-old who was sentenced to death in 2017 after being convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore, will appear before the Singapore Court of Appeal at 10am tomorrow for a post-appeal application hearing. Adpan project officer Janice Ananthan urged the Malaysian government to protect its citizens abroad. 'Malaysia has reformed some of our death penalty laws. As Asean chair and Pannir's home country, we call on the government to act,' she said at the rally. Amnesty International campaigner Qistina Johari said Pannir's sister was in Singapore for the hearing, while his parents were in Ipoh. The group also called on the Singapore government to 'end the cruel and inhuman punishment' of the death penalty. NGOs have previously urged Singapore to commute Pannir's sentence and impose a moratorium on executions. Pannir was convicted on June 27, 2017 of trafficking in 51.84gm of diamorphine through the Woodlands checkpoint on Sept 3, 2014. Pannir, who was given a package by a Malaysian to be handed over to a Singaporean man once he arrived in the republic, has consistently denied knowing that the package contained drugs. On Feb 19, he was granted a stay of execution by the Court of Appeal just hours before his scheduled execution. Pannir was also granted a stay of execution in 2019.
South China Morning Post
18-02-2025
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia urged to intervene in Pannir Selvam's execution for drugs in Singapore
Lawmakers in Kuala Lumpur have urged the government to intervene as time runs out for convicted Malaysian Pannir Selvam, who will be executed in Singapore on Thursday for smuggling around 50 grams of heroin into the city state. Pannir, 30, was sentenced to death in 2017 for importing diamorphine – a potent opioid known as medical heroin – into Singapore in 2014. The defence has argued that Pannir was a drug courier and not a trafficker. According to Malaysian lawmakers, Pannir had assisted Singapore authorities, which led to the arrest of a Malaysian recruiter for the drug operation. Singapore's authorities did not issue Pannir a certificate of substantial assistance. If such a certificate is issued to an accused person facing a capital offence after the person has been determined to be a 'courier' and provided substantive assistance, the court has the discretion to sentence the person to life imprisonment with, where applicable, caning. Singapore has a zero-tolerance approach to drug trafficking, a deterrent the city state says has resulted in it having a fraction of drug use issues which beset other Southeast Asian nations. Calls for Malaysia's government to urge Singapore to grant leniency to Pannir have mounted in the past few days.
