SINGAPORE: A stay application filed on behalf of death row inmate Pannir Selvam Pranthaman will be heard by the Singapore Court of Appeal on 7 October 2025, just one day before his scheduled execution.
According to human rights lawyer M Ravi, the hearing will be presided over by Justice Woo Bih Lih.
However, Ravi noted that the hearing may be vacated depending on the Court’s decision under Section 60G of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969.
The application was filed by lawyer Too Xing Ji, who represents Pannir.
Vigils across Singapore
Independent journalist Kirsten Han, writing on We, The Citizens, announced that four vigils will be held on Tuesday evening to show solidarity with Pannir and his family.
Han explained that Hong Lim Park, the usual site for such gatherings, was fully booked between 4 and 12 October, leading organisers to seek alternative venues.
The vigils are scheduled at:
- The Arts & Civic Space (TACS), 2 Kallang Avenue, hosted by Rev Miak Siew of the Free Community Church and the Transformative Justice Collective (7pm–6am, overnight).
- Pearl’s Hill Terrace (#03-27), hosted by Student Actions for Transformative Justice (SATU) (7pm–9pm).
- HOME Geylang Office, hosted by HOME and the Transformative Justice Collective (7pm–9pm).
- Orange & Teal, Rochester Mall, supported by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Red Dot United (RDU), and the Transformative Justice Collective (7pm–9pm).
These gatherings have drawn support from several civil society and political groups, including RDU, SDP, Free Community Church, SATU, and the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME).
Han stated that the latest execution notice received by Pannir’s family is their third overall and the second this year, describing the experience as “traumatic, stressful, and exhausting every time”.
Support and statements
In a statement, Red Dot United (RDU) affirmed its support for the vigils, describing them as “an act of conscience.”
“It is a collective call to reaffirm that the power to decide life and death must always rest with the courts after full and transparent judicial consideration, not with administrative discretion,” the statement said.
RDU secretary-general Ravi Philemon added: “The worth of a society is not seen in how swiftly it condemns, but in how deeply it considers. Every life we take without reflection diminishes the dignity of us all.”
Ongoing investigations in Malaysia
Meanwhile, Malaysian parliamentarian Ramkarpal Singh said that Malaysian investigators interviewed Pannir at Changi Prison on 27 September 2025, in a session lasting about three hours.
Ramkarpal stated that Pannir had provided “crucial information” identifying individuals in Malaysia allegedly responsible for supplying him with drugs and convincing him to smuggle them into Singapore.
He suggested that Pannir’s evidence could assist in exposing a cross-border drug trafficking network operating between Johor and Singapore, and that his execution could undermine ongoing investigations.
“Executing him now, before investigations are completed, would only embolden syndicates while the masterminds remain at large,” Ramkarpal said.
Pannir was convicted by the Singapore High Court on 2 May 2017, for importing at least 51.84g of diamorphine into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint on 3 September, 2014.
He was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act.
His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 9 February 2018, and his clemency petition to the President of Singapore was rejected.
Pannir had previously been granted two stays of execution.
The first was in May 2019, when he sought to challenge the clemency rejection and the Public Prosecutor’s decision not to issue him a Certificate of Substantive Assistance.
A second stay was granted in February 2025, which was lifted after the dismissal of his post-appeal application on 5 September.
On 6 September, a further stay request was rejected by the Court of Appeal. This application was linked to disciplinary proceedings Pannir had initiated through the Law Society against his former legal representative.
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