The NGO said it has collected more than 1,000 signatures in a petition asking the government to intervene to secure the commutation of Pannir’s death sentence.

Pannir was convicted on June 27, 2017 by the Singapore High Court for trafficking in 51.84gm of diamorphine at the Woodlands checkpoint on Sept 3, 2014.

In a statement today, Amnesty said the violations of human rights protections seen in Pannir’s case would render the execution “arbitrary and unlawful” under international human rights law and standards.

“As the current Asean chair and a neighbouring country with strong ties to Singapore, the government of Malaysia must urgently intervene in Pannir’s case,” it said.

“He was sentenced to death for drug-related offences, which do not meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’ to which the use of this punishment must be restricted under international human rights law and standards.

“The death penalty was also imposed as a mandatory sentence, contrary to international law and standards. This meant that the judge could not take into account the circumstances of the offence or of his background.”

Amnesty also said the conviction was reached with reliance on a legal presumption of knowledge of the drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Pannir, who was given a package by a Malaysian to be handed over to a Singaporean man once he arrived in Singapore, has consistently denied knowing that the package contained drugs.

Yesterday, his former lawyer, M Ravi, said Pannir’s sister told him she had received a letter from Singaporean prison authorities confirming his execution on Thursday.