Bukit Aman finds no grounds to support death row inmate Pannir
Police concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to justify extending its support to Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who is scheduled for execution in Singapore tomorrow, for cross-border drug trafficking offences.
Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the conclusion was reached after two rounds of police investigations, adding that the information provided by the suspect held no "operational value" for the police.
Summary
Police conclude there are no reasonable grounds to justify extending its support to death row inmate Pannir Selvam Pranthaman.
Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah says during the investigation process, police had also detained several individuals named by Pannir, but found no links between them and the suspect’s case.
Police concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to justify extending its support to Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who is scheduled for execution in Singapore tomorrow, for cross-border drug trafficking offences.
Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the conclusion was reached after two rounds of police investigations, adding that the information provided by the suspect held no "operational value" for the police.
“The summary, in both phases of the investigation, police reviewed every aspect of the case and concluded that there were no reasonable grounds for police to express support for the suspect.
“The information provided by the suspect had no operational value for police to pursue further investigations,” Shamsul told the Dewan Rakyat during a special chamber session this afternoon.
He added that during the investigation process, police had also detained several individuals named by Pannir, but found no links between them and the suspect’s case.
Case background
The Singapore High Court, on May 2, 2017, convicted Pannir for importing not less than 51.84g of diamorphine into Singapore. He was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty.
The Singapore Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on Feb 9, 2018, and a clemency petition to the Singapore president was rejected.
Pannir was granted a stay of execution twice. The first was in May 2019, on the basis that he intended to challenge the rejection of his clemency petition and the public prosecutor’s decision not to issue a certificate of substantive assistance to him.
The second stay of execution was granted in February 2025, pending the determination of a post-appeal application in a capital case.
The Singapore Court of Appeal dismissed his bid for a stay of execution on Sept 6.
‘Insufficient evidence’
During today’s proceedings, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh had also raised the question of whether the information provided by Pannir during the investigation was referred to the deputy public prosecutor.
Responding, Shamsul said the investigation papers had indeed been referred, and that the police had also opened an operational file.
“The police opened an operational file to develop the information, but there was insufficient evidence to pursue the intelligence further.
"The ministry has conducted various thorough efforts through the police to carry out further investigations, but found that the information obtained yielded no operational value,” he added.
Last week, Ramkarpal, who is DAP national legal bureau chairperson, urged the Singapore government to halt Pannir's execution, citing his role as a key witness in an ongoing police probe.
Ramkarpal said that the Malaysian police are still investigating the drug syndicate which Pannir operated as a mule for, and that several police officers from Bukit Aman were granted access to Pannir at Changi Prison on Sept 27.
