On 4 October 2025, it was reported that Malaysian national Pannir Selvam Pranthaman has been scheduled to be executed in Singapore on Wednesday morning (8 October 2025)1. Pannir Selvam is a hard-working young man from Ipoh who worked multiple shifts as a security guard in Singapore to sustain himself and help his family.2 He placed his trust in the wrong individual and was persuaded to transport what was thought to be medicine, unaware of the nature of what he was carrying.3 He was eventually convicted of importing 51.84g of diamorphine into Singapore4. His sister, Angelia Pranthaman, told the press that prison authorities had informed her that the notice of execution had been issued to the family.5
The Malaysian Bar is, and always has been, opposed to the death penalty6 and reiterates that capital punishment violates the fundamental right to life, and there is no conclusive evidence that capital punishment leads to a reduction in drug abuse or trafficking.7
In the case of Pannir Selvam, concerns have been raised that his imminent execution would have a grave impact on ongoing law enforcement efforts. Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor Ramkarpal Singh, also the former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Law and Institutional Reform, informed the public that Pannir Selvam has been actively assisting the Royal Malaysia Police in its investigations into a cross-border drug trafficking network8. These investigations, initiated on the basis of police reports filed between 2018 and 2025, concern information on individuals believed to be involved in supplying the narcotics to Pannir Selvam and persuading him to transport the same into Singapore9.
Further, it was revealed that on 27 September 2025, the Royal Malaysia Police was granted access to interview Pannir Selvam at Changi Prison10. The interview lasted for approximately three hours, during which time, Pannir Selvam provided crucial information on a cross-border drug syndicate11. Ramkarpal Singh noted that the investigations remain ongoing, and that Pannir Selvam may serve as a material witness in any prosecutions that follow as a result of the investigations12.
This imminent execution is a troubling development and must be viewed in the wider context of international human rights obligations. International human rights law restricts the death penalty to only the “most serious crimes”, a threshold that does not encompass drug-related offences13 — more so in the present case, wherein Pannir Selvam was a drug mule. In respect of this matter, the imposition of a mandatory death sentence also strips the judge of any discretion to consider mitigating factors, including Pannir Selvam’s role as a mere courier. While the court in Pannir Selvam’s case acknowledged his limited involvement, the prosecution declined to issue a Certificate of Substantive Assistance.14
The Malaysian Bar is further guided by the jurisprudence of eminent jurists on the philosophy of sentencing. Justice V R Krishna Iyer of the Indian Supreme Court, in Mohammad Giasuddin v State of Andhra Pradesh (1977) 3 SCC 287, famously declared:
“Crime is a pathological aberration. The criminal can ordinarily be redeemed and the state has to rehabilitate rather than avenge... Therefore, the focus of interest in penology is the individual and the goal is salvaging him for society. The infliction of harsh and savage punishment is thus a relic of past and regressive times. The modern community, with its concern for human rights, frowns upon the deterrence and retributive elements in punishment. Sentencing should focus on reformation, so that the offender repents and returns to society as a responsible citizen.”
We are reminded of Pannir Selvam’s own words as a poet and advocate from behind prison walls, “... not death in death row, but mercy and forgiveness …”15. His plea reflects a higher call to justice, one that recognises the futility of the death penalty as a deterrent, and instead embraces the values of compassion, redemption, and human dignity.
Importantly, Pannir Selvam has extended his cooperation to the Malaysian law enforcement, assisting in ongoing investigations into a cross-border drug syndicate. To halt his execution and commute his sentence would not only affirm the strength of mercy but also uphold the cause of justice by ensuring that those truly responsible are brought to account. In doing so, the Government of Singapore would demonstrate that true justice is measured not by severity, but by humanity, fairness, and the courage to choose compassion over finality.
In view of Pannir Selvam’s imminent execution, the Malaysian Bar urge and appeal for the following:
(1) Urgent and decisive action by the Malaysian Government to use all available legal and diplomatic avenues to halt the execution of Pannir Selvam in view of the assistance he has rendered to the Malaysian law enforcement in an active and ongoing investigation into a cross-border drug syndicate;
(2) A direct appeal to the Government of Singapore to halt the execution of Pannir Selvam, acknowledging both his role as a mere courier and his cooperation with authorities in ongoing investigations into a cross-border drug syndicate;
(3) The Governments of Malaysia and Singapore to take all necessary and pragmatic steps to defer the sentence handed down to Pannir Selvam to enable him to see his cooperation all the way through to giving evidence in any and all proceedings that may follow or relate to the investigations in which his assistance could prove useful or crucial;
(4) The Governments of Malaysia and Singapore to undertake their best endeavours to spare the life of Pannir Selvam and to commute his sentence to imprisonment and allow him a chance at rehabilitation instead; and
(5) That civil societies on both sides of the Causeway raise and lend their voice in support of mercy, justice, and compassion to spare a life and a soul who has shown repentance and cooperated with the authorities in the fight against the peddlers of substance abuse.
Anand Raj
Vice-President
Malaysian Bar
6 October 2025
1 “Malaysian Pannir Selvam to be executed in Singapore Oct 8”, The Star, 4 October 2025.
2 “Pannir Selvam: The Ipoh boy on Singapore’s death row (Part I)”, Malay Mail, 28 June 2019.
3 Ibid
4 Supra note 1
5 “Pannir Selvam to be executed on Oct 8, says sister”, Free Malaysia Today, 4 October 2025.
6 “Press Release | The Malaysian Bar Presses for the Abolition of the Death Penalty and Calls for Regional Cooperation to Uphold the Right to Life”, Malaysian Bar website, 11 March 2025; “Press Release | Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty a Step Towards the Right Direction, but Abolish Capital Punishment Entirely”, Malaysian Bar website, 11 June 2022; “Press Release | The Malaysian Bar Renews its Calls to Abolish the Death Penalty”, Malaysian Bar website, 19 November 2020; “Press Release | In Commemoration of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Malaysian Bar Renews its Call for the Abolition of the Death Penalty”, Malaysian Bar website, 10 October 2020.
7 The death penalty: No solution to illicit drugs (Index No. ACT 51/002/1995), Amnesty International, 2 October 1995.
8 “Executing Pannir risks compromising probe into drug syndicate, warns MP”, Free Malaysia Today, 5 October 2025.
9 “Halt Pannir Selvam’s execution until police complete drug syndicate probe”, New Straits Times, 4 October 2025.
10 Ibid
11 Ibid
12 Ibid
13 Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty (Resolution 1984/50), United Nations Economic and Social Council, 25 May 1984.
14 Joint Statement: Malaysia Must Intervene to Stop the Execution of Pannir Selvam and Others on Death Row in Singapore, Amnesty Malaysia, 6 February 2025.
15 Pannir Selvam, A poetry collection (Part 2), Pannir Selvam, 2023, Penwings Publishing.