In an unexpected development, the Singapore High Court has granted Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman a stay of execution while the case is still pending. Pannir was originally set to be killed on Thursday, February 20, after being found guilty by the Singapore High Court in 2017 of trafficking 51.84g of diamorphine at the Woodlands checkpoint on September 3, 2014.
For the unversed, Singapore is one of the few Asian countries with strict and zero-tolerance laws against drug trafficking.
Pannir was found to have strapped three of the packets of diamorphine in his groin area and the fourth in the back seat compartment of his motorcycle and crossing Woodlands Checkpoint – one of Singapore's two land border checkpoints.
No execution tomorrow
When contacted, his Malaysian attorney N. Surendran verified this to the NST. He said that because of an ongoing challenge to Section 18(2) of Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act and the actions of his former attorney in managing the case, Singapore High Court Judge Woo Bih Li granted the stay earlier today.
Surendran told NST, "Under Section 18(2), anyone proven or presumed to have had a controlled drug in their possession is then presumed to have known the nature of that drug, unless it is proven otherwise. This doesn't mean he is not on death row, but it sure does give us all a sense of relief." He declared that there would be no execution tomorrow.
The legality problems are being tried at Singapore's highest court, and the verdict might potentially affect Pannir's conviction in the future, Surendran continued.
Sentenced to mandatory death
Pannir, who is currently 37, was sentenced to mandatory death in 2017 for serving as a courier to transport the drugs.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been urged to step in and stop the execution by a number of government MPs and NGOs.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution reportedly called his counterpart in Singapore this afternoon to talk about the issue as well.
Outside the Singapore High Commission in Jalan Tun Razak, Amnesty International, Suaram, and a number of other NGOs assembled for a candlelight vigil last night.
Approximately 80 people came to support Pannir and his family, including Ram Karpal Singh, Kasturi Patho, Party Socialist Malaysia's S. Arulchelvan, Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy, and others.
