P. Pannir Selvam, a Malaysian man facing the gallows in Singapore, is facing another hurdle in his bid to have his sentence commuted to life, after failing to obtain a certificate of substantive assistance from the city-state, a document that could spare his life, and one his legal team says is being unfairly denied him.
Legal advocacy group Lawyers for Liberty, who have been working tirelessly on the case after Pannir was convicted of trafficking 51.8 grams of diamorphine into the country, has insisted the Malaysian helped Singaporean authorities.
A certificate of substantive assistance is granted by the Singapore’s attorney general’s chambers (AGC) when an individual who has been convicted for drug offenses has assisted authorities. It is necessary in Pannir’s bid to be spared from the gallows, and instead be given a life sentence.
“The facts are clear, Pannir has assisted the authorities in Singapore,” Lawyers for Liberty representative, N. Surendran said at a press conference on Friday.
“He has also said that he was duped by drug kingpins in Malaysia, so we are very surprised why the Singapore AGC did not issue the certificate.”
He said the family would be challenging the Singapore AGC’s failure to issue the certificate.
“Here you have the (Singapore) AGC holding the power of life and death in Pannir’s case. Not just his, many other Malaysians caught for similar offenses also haven’t gotten the certificate and are facing the gallows,” he concluded.
In a last-ditch attempt to save his life via the Singapore Court of Appeal, Pannir was granted a stay of execution in late May, allowing him to challenge the clemency process.
That clemency was denied, though Pannir’s legal team is now pointing to the odd timing in a pair of notification letters, suggesting a “flaw” in the process.
According to Lawyers for Liberty, Pannir first received a letter from the Singaporean president’s office saying his appeal for clemency was not granted, and notifying him of his execution date. However, a letter sent by prison officials to his family to the same effect was dated a day earlier.
“How can that be? This indicates a serious flaw because surely the prison would not know the clemency has been rejected when the letter from the President’s office had not been issued yet,” said Surendran.
On September 3, 2014, Pannir was found to be in possession of 51.84 grams of diamorphine, aka heroin, at the Woodlands Checkpoint between Singapore and Malaysia. He was convicted on June 27, 2017.
His defendants argued that there was cause to believe that Pannir was merely duped into carrying a package by a man named “Anand,” and that the defendant gave authorities thorough information on the alleged mastermind.
Singapore, a country known for its harsh anti-drug trafficking laws, has a mandatory death penalty for some drug-0trafficking charges.
Members of the public can go HERE to sign a petition to save Pannir’s life.
