With support from Amnesty International Malaysia, Angelia Pranthaman hopes that AICHR, backed by the government, will advocate for her brother Pannir Selvam’s death sentence to be commuted.
“We are requesting for AICHR to intervene and for the foreign ministry to engage with the attorney-general and Singaporean president to ensure the cooperation given by Pannir to the police is recognised as grounds to commute his death sentence,” Angelia told a press conference at Solaris Dutamas today.
She added that Pannir had consistently cooperated with Singaporean authorities and provided vital information that contributed to investigation of drug syndicates and arrests of the suspects involved. However, she said his contributions were not fairly recognised and were dismissed.
“Time is very crucial. The execution notice could be scheduled anytime, so we are pleading to the relevant authorities in Malaysia to secure the commutation of his death sentence through a certificate of substantial assistance or other diplomatic engagements.
“I ask for your (AICHR) support in giving Pannir a second chance,” she said.
A certificate of substantive assistance would allow the courts the discretion to take him off death row and impose life imprisonment and caning instead.
Pannir was sentenced to death after he was convicted on June 27, 2017 by the Singapore High Court for trafficking in 51.84g of diamorphine at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Sept 3, 2014.
A letter from the Singapore president refusing clemency and the notification of execution, both dated May 17, 2019, were sent to his family, notifying them of his scheduled execution on May 24, 2019.
However, a day before his execution, the Singapore Court of Appeal granted Pannir’s application to stay his execution, enabling him to challenge the clemency process.
The then foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah had said the government would help Pannir get the best legal advice on his appeal for clemency in Singapore.
An application to start a court challenge against the rejection of Pannir’s clemency plea was heard in chambers on Feb 11, 2020. However, the bid was dismissed by the High Court the next day.
Another appeal by Pannir to challenge the clemency process and also the public prosecutor’s decision not to issue him a certificate of substantive assistance, was rejected by the Court of Appeal on Nov 26, 2021.
Since then, Pannir’s family has called for a review of the Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau’s (CNB) decision not to issue the certificate.
The argument for the certificate was based on the fact that he had given CNB information which led to the arrest of another drug trafficker.
Amnesty research and advocacy officer Nicole Fong said in June this year, the Singapore home affairs ministry reviewed the practice of providing notification of execution, to shorten the notice period for those who had previously been issued an execution warrant and had received a stay after half of their notification period had passed.
“We fear that Pannir will be served with a shortened four days’ execution notice, which would severely impact him and his family, as well as further reduce the possibility of any last-minute recourse,” she said.
Angelia submitted a memorandum, while Nicole presented 375 public petitions appealing for clemency on behalf of Pannir, to AICHR’s Malaysian representative, Edmund Bon, today.
“Our legal team will be reviewing the case and looking at how the judgments in Singapore have or have not reflected the arguments that were made, and whether there is room for diplomatic or humanitarian intervention in the case,” Bon said.
While acknowledging that the principles of sovereignty must be respected, Bon expressed hope that, with the support of the Prime Minister’s Office, the home ministry and the foreign ministry, a solution that upholds and respects human rights principles could be reached.