Get a stay of execution for Pannir Selvam, Saifuddin urged

K PRAGALATH

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has been called upon to request a stay of execution for Pannir Selvam Pranthaman who has been on death row in Singapore since May 2017.

The call was made by 12 backbencher MPs from PKR in light of new police reports about two senior members of a drug syndicate that recruited Pannir to be a drug mule.

“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.

“In March 2025, Pannir’s family members managed to convince an independent witness to file a police report in Johor Baru providing further material information about two senior members of a Malaysian drug syndicate, who originally recruited Pannir to be a drug mule,” they said in a statement.

“We call upon our police to carry out further investigations based on the said police report and urgently update Saifuddin Nasution, the Home Minister.

“We also urge our Home Minister to write to the Singapore Government to request a stay of execution for Pannir, whilst further police investigations continue on the leaders of the drug 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 12 PKR MPs are Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli (Pandan), Wong Chen (Subang), Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Ledang), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Setiawangsa), Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik (Balik Pulau), Yuneswaran Ramaraj (Segamat), Kesavan Subramaniam (Sungai Siput), Tan Kar Hing (Gopeng), Onn Abu Bakar (Batu Pahat), Lee Chean Chung (Petaling Jaya), Zahir Hassan (Wangsa Maju) and Rodziah Ismail (Ampang).

Pannir was detained for trafficking 52 grams of drugs. His appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal, Singapore on 5 Sept 2025 which puts him at high risk of execution.