Activists to hold vigils to protest death penalty in Singapore as a Malaysian man awaits execution

Rights activists in Singapore and Malaysia will hold candlelight vigils to protest capital punishment as Singaporean authorities prepare to execute a Malaysian man for drug trafficking despite mounting pressure to halt the sentencing

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Rights activists in Singapore and Malaysia will hold candlelight vigils Wednesday to protest capital punishment as Singaporean authorities prepare to execute a Malaysian man for drug trafficking despite mounting pressure to halt the sentencing.

Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was arrested in 2014 for having 52 grams (about 1.8 ounces) of heroin and sentenced to death in 2017. He is due to be hanged on Thursday, making him the fourth person to be put to death in the Southeast Asian country this year alone; two others were executed for drug-related crimes and one for murder.

Singapore’s strict laws mandate the death penalty for anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of heroin and 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of cannabis. However, critics say the laws only target low-level traffickers and couriers.

Pannir's family, lawyers, some Malaysian lawmakers and various rights groups noted that the Singapore court had found that he was merely a courier transporting the substance. The 36-year-old has said he didn't know he was carrying drugs. Still, the court had to hand down the death sentence after prosecutors refused to issue Pannir a certificate of substantive assistance, vouching that he helped their investigation, which would have spared him the noose, they said.

"This process violates the right to a fair trial, as it placed the decision between a life-or-death sentence in the hands of the prosecution–which is not a neutral party in the trial,” Amnesty International said. “We urge the Singapore government to immediately end its unlawful resort to the death penalty and immediately establish a moratorium on all executions."

Malaysian lawmakers called on their country to intervene to halt Pannir's execution and have him extradited to facilitate further investigation.

The Malaysian government, which recently scrapped the mandatory death penalty, didn't respond to media queries.

“We oppose the use of the death penalty on drug mules who are themselves victims in the million-dollar transactions by syndicates that are roaming free,” Malaysian lawmaker Ram Karpal Singh was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.

Pannir, the third of six children, is the son of a church pastor who worked as a lorry driver to make ends meet, said Singapore anti-death penalty activist Kokila Annamalai. He loves music and played in the church choir growing up, she said.

Behind bars, Pannir has written letters, songs and poems about the anguish of being on death row and hopes of a second chance, she said. His family has shared some of his songs, which were replicated by several Malaysian singers.

Activists in Malaysia will hold a vigil outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur later Wednesday. Another vigil will be held simultaneously at a park in Singapore to protest Pannir’s execution and the death penalty, as well as to remember those hanged by the city-state.