Twelve PKR MPs have urged the government to intervene and contact Singapore over the imminent execution of Malaysian death row inmate P Pannir Selvam in the island state.
The MPs said Pannir’s family had convinced an independent witness to file a police report in March with additional information about senior members of a Malaysian drug trafficking syndicate that recruited Pannir.
They urged the police to investigate the report and provide home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail with a prompt update on the case to nail the syndicate members who are to blame for Pannir’s arrest in Singapore.
“We also urge our home minister to write to the Singapore government to request a stay of execution for Pannir while further police investigations continue on the leaders of the drug syndicate that recruited Pannir.
“We sincerely hope that these latest efforts will result in the arrests of the leaders of the drug syndicate and convince the Singapore government to issue Pannir a certificate of substantive assistance, thus converting his death sentence to life imprisonment,” they said in a statement.
The MPs include former PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, former PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Subang MP Wong Chen, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail and Balik Pulau MP Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
The others who signed the statement were Segamat MP R Yuneswaran, Sungai Siput MP S Kesavan, Gopeng MP Tan Kar Hing, Batu Pahat MP Onn Abdul Bakar, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung and Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan.
Pannir was convicted by the Singapore High Court on May 2, 2017 of importing 51.84g of diamorphine into the country and was given the mandatory death penalty.
His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Feb 9, 2018, and his clemency petition to the president of Singapore was rejected.
Two weeks ago, the Singapore Court of Appeal dismissed his application for a stay of execution pending the conclusion of the Law Society’s disciplinary proceedings against his former lawyer.
