Jailed on drug offences, Malaysian pastor’s son is a risk of hanging in Singapore
Pannir Selvam Pranthaman is scheduled to hang on 20 February after 11 years in Singapore’s notorious Changi Prison. His family hopes for a stay of execution, urging friends and relatives to pray for a miracle. But the only way to stop the execution is for the Malaysian government to go before the International Court of Justice.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – A fear that has haunted a family in Ipoh, capital of the state of Perak, about 200 km from the capital, has finally caught up with them.
In the past few hours, they were informed of the imminent execution of 37-year-old Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, the son of a Christian clergyman, convicted of a drug offence in the city state. Pannir has been on death row in Changi prison for 11 years.
While Malaysian MPs and international rights organisations as well as local pro-life groups are rallying to save Pannir’s life, his lawyer, M. Ravi, said that the only recourse Pannir now has is for the Malaysian government to file an urgent application at the International Court of Justice, to challenge the execution under international human rights law.
In a letter, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) informed Pannir’s sister, Sangkari Pranthaman, that his execution is set for 20 February and that the family would be granted additional visiting hours until then.
Ravi, who has represented Pannir and many other prisoners sentenced to death after “controversial trials”, has made an urgent appeal to the Malaysian government to reach out to save the Malaysian national.
According to the judge, Pannir acted as a courier to import the drugs, but the prosecution failed to mention Pannir's co-operation with the authorities.
In the 2020 trial, it was revealed that prison authorities had passed confidential information about 13 inmates to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC).
"Several of these letters involved privileged communications between the inmates’ and their lawyers,” Ravi said. “The Court of Appeal ruled that the AGC and the SPS had acted unlawfully by, respectively, requesting and disclosing the inmates’ correspondence.”
As a result, “This has certainly undermined the administration of the death penalty in Singapore and the breach is egregious under international law,” Ravi stressed.
The execution notice came less than two weeks after 20 civil society and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, called on Malaysia to take "immediate and decisive action" on Pannir's behalf, saying that the 37-year-old had exhausted all legal options after being sentenced to death under Singapore's controversial drug laws.
Today, four Malaysian MPs called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to intervene before the imminent execution. Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh expressed hope that Pannir would be allowed to return to Malaysia to serve his prison sentence while providing information to assist investigations related to his case.
In a statement, Amnesty International Malaysia has also appealed to the government to help halt Malaysian Pannir’s execution in Singapore on Thursday. The NGO said it collected more than 1,000 signatures in a petition, stressing that the violations of human rights protections seen in Pannir’s case would render the execution “arbitrary and unlawful”.
Amnesty noted that, “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”. For the advocacy group, the sentence does not meet the punishment threshold for the "most serious crimes" to which capital punishment must be restricted.
According to the facts of the case, Pannir, who was given a package by a Malaysian to be handed over to a Singaporean man once he arrived in the city state, consistently denied knowing that the package contained the contraband.
Speaking to AsiaNews today Pannir’s younger sister Angelia Pranthaman said: “It is very hard to see our brother in this situation” and be powerless to do anything. “My family is now in Singapore to visit Pannir. We are trying to be there for him as much as we can. This has been a constant emotional battle for us, but we hold to hope, trusting that the Lord will intervene.”
In his church circle, Pannir was dubbed “The Little Drummer Boy” after his favourite Christmas carol. He also played the drums in the Evangelical church choir where his father is a pastor.
In prison, Pannir wrote the lyrics of two songs with pro-life themes, which were sung by two popular Malaysian singers.
The most recent execution conducted in Singapore took place on 7 February 2025, when "a 50-year-old Singaporean who was convicted of having in his possession controlled drugs for the purpose of trafficking" was hanged.
A 34-year-old intellectually disabled man, Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, was the last Malaysian to be executed in Singapore under its strict laws against drug trafficking. He was hanged on 27 April 2022. Eight more Malaysians are currently waiting on death row in the city state.
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22/07/2022 16:42
