Act fast, NGO urges PM to secure commutation for Pannir
An NGO has cautioned against celebrating Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s reprieve from his execution too quickly due to Singapore’s strong stance on drug-related charges.
Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture group representative Charles Hector said Singapore is known to immediately proceed with executions once a court has dismissed any pending legal matters.
Summary
Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) group representative Charles Hector urges Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to urgently reach out to the Singaporean government to ensure Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s death sentence is commuted to imprisonment.
This is because Singapore has been known to immediately execute death row inmates once all pending court matters have been concluded.
He says Malaysia should use its influence and good ties with the island nation for the said purpose.
An NGO has cautioned against celebrating Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s reprieve from his execution too quickly due to Singapore’s strong stance on drug-related charges.
Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture group representative Charles Hector said Singapore is known to immediately proceed with executions once a court has dismissed any pending legal matters.
“There is nothing to be happy about Pannir’s stay of execution, which is just until the court hears and decides on the court application.
“Singapore is known to proceed with executions the day the court decides on the application and dismisses it.
“Thus, it is important for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to act fast and get Pannir’s death sentence commuted to imprisonment,” Charles said in a statement today.
Alternatively, Hector urged Putrajaya to convince the Singapore president to exercise his pardon powers to commute Pannir ’s sentence.
Yesterday, Singapore’s Appellate Division judge Woo Bih Li granted a stay pending the determination of Pannir’s Post-Appeal Applications in Capital Cases (PACC) application.
PACCs are applications filed by prisoners awaiting capital punishment after all avenues have been exhausted. Pannir Selvam represented himself in the submission.
Woo said he granted Pannir permission to make a PACC application on the grounds that he has a pending complaint with the Law Society of Singapore against his former counsel Ong Ying Ping, and a pending determination of another case on a constitutional challenge related to Singapore’s drug laws.
Following the decision, several quarters lauded the Singapore court’s decision, with Amnesty International Malaysia also calling for the detainee’s death sentence to be commuted.
Does Putrajaya have the will?
On that note, Hector said Malaysia can save Pannir by relying on its influence and good ties with Singapore.
However, he questioned whether Anwar and the government had the political will to do so.
Hector then cited a case where the Philippines president had acted to save a citizen on the verge of being executed by Indonesia for drug trafficking.
“The dramatic turn of events began last month when in an unusual last-ditch effort to delay Mary Jane Veloso’s death, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr announced that a deal had been reached for Indonesia to send Veloso home after a decade of pleading from Manila.
“The question now is whether Anwar and the Malaysian government can do the same for Pannir?” he asked.
In November last year, CNN reported Indonesia’s Coordinating Law, Human Rights and Immigration Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra confirming that President Prabowo Subianto has approved Veloso’s return to the Philippines.
In return, Marcos thanked Prabowo and his government for the decision.
