PETALING JAYA: Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh says Singapore's impending execution of Malaysian P Pannir Selvam next Wednesday risks compromising ongoing investigations into a cross-border drug smuggling syndicate, which Pannir is assisting with.
Ramkarpal noted that Malaysian police initiated the investigations on reports filed between 2018 and 2025, with information on people allegedly responsible for handing drugs to Pannir and persuading him to transport them into Singapore.
These individuals are believed to have been part of a syndicate operating in Johor at the time.
The DAP MP and lawyer said police had interviewed Pannir for three hours on Sept 25, during which he provided information on a syndicate, and noted that there was no indication so far that the investigations had concluded.
He said it was possible Pannir would be a key witness in the prosecution of individuals here as a result of the investigations, which could dismantle part of a syndicate responsible for trafficking drugs into Singapore.
"Executing Pannir before police complete their investigations would only embolden syndicates to continue their operations, using unsuspecting, vulnerable Malaysians and Singaporeans as drug mules while the masterminds remain at large.
"In the circumstances, I urge the Singaporean government to immediately halt the execution of Pannir in the interests of justice pending the completion of police investigations," he said in a statement.
Ramkarpal also urged home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to confirm these investigations are ongoing, which require Pannir as a material witness to facilitate them.
Pannir was convicted on June 27, 2017 by the Singapore High Court for trafficking in 51.84g of diamorphine at the Woodlands checkpoint on Sept 3, 2014, and was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty.
His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Feb 9, 2018, and his clemency petition to the Singapore president was rejected.
The Court of Appeal on Sept 6 also dismissed Pannir's bid for a stay of execution, pending the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings he had initiated with the Law Society against his former lawyer.