Malaysia confirms no new probe after police interview with death row inmate Pannir Selvam in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s Home Ministry t on 7 October 2025  has confirmed that there will be no new investigation following the Malaysian police’s interview with death row inmate Pannir Selvam Pranthaman at Changi Prison, Singapore, last month.

Deputy Home Minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said in Parliament that police had questioned Pannir for about four hours on 27 September 2025, but found the information he provided to be of “no operational value”.

He stated, “The information provided by the subject had no operational value for the police to conduct further investigations.”

Shamsul explained that police had previously investigated three individuals named by Pannir and his family, but no links were found, concluding that “there was no room to pursue the case further.”

He added that Malaysia respected Singapore’s judicial process, noting that Singaporean courts had found drugs taped to Pannir’s leg and concealed in his motorcycle, indicating he was not merely a courier.

During the session, Ramkarpal Singh, Member of Parliament for Gelugor, pressed the ministry to confirm whether the police had referred Pannir’s case to the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) or if it was declared as “no further action” (NFA).

In response, Shamsul clarified that a referral to the DPP is only made once an investigation paper has been opened, typically after arrests or seizures have occurred.

When further pressed, he confirmed that no investigation paper had been opened and therefore no referral was made.

Ramkarpal expressed disappointment, questioning the purpose of interviewing Pannir on 27 September if no investigation was intended.

Shamsul reiterated that the information gathered “had no operational value” and that there was “no room to continue.”

Singapore court dismissed Pannir's bid to halt execution

Pannir, 36, was scheduled for execution in Singapore on 8 October 2025, after being convicted of trafficking 51.84 grams of diamorphine through the Woodlands Checkpoint in 2014.

On Tuesday, the Singapore Court of Appeal vacated Pannir’s appeal hearing late in the afternoon.

His lawyer, Too Xing Ji, had applied for a stay of execution, citing that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) may need to reconsider granting him a Certificate of Substantive Assistance, following the information he shared with Malaysian police about a cross-border drug network.

Community organiser Kokila Annamalai from the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) announced in a Facebook post at 8.34pm that the court has delivered its judgment on Pannir’s case. According to her update, the execution is scheduled to proceed tomorrow morning, and the prison authorities have called his family to identify his body at 9am.

According to a report by the NST, Malaysian lawyer N. Surendran confirmed that the Singapore court has rejected the final legal challenge filed by Pannir’s family.

In his written decision, Judge Woo Bih Li stated: “There is no basis to grant the present application to order a stay of execution. I therefore dismiss it summarily without the need for an oral hearing.”

He added that there was “nothing exceptional whatsoever about the circumstances of the present case”, and therefore no grounds for the court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to stay the execution.

“The stay application was the last bid to stop the execution. There were good grounds and the stay should have been allowed by the court. Now there is nothing left to prevent the execution tomorrow,” Surendran said.

Surendran also described Pannir as an exemplary individual whose sentence should be commuted.

“He is a writer and has published books of poetry; he deserves to live. Executing him would be a brutal and meaningless act. We hope the Malaysian government will do everything possible to save him,” he said.

In a further appeal, Surendran urged both governments to act swiftly: “Even now, we urge Singapore not to proceed with the execution and for the Malaysian government to intervene urgently.”

Civic and religious groups have organised four vigils across Singapore on Tuesday evening to show solidarity with Pannir and his family.

The events include:

• The Arts & Civic Space (TACS), hosted by Rev Miak Siew of the Free Community Church and TJC, running overnight from 7pm to 6am.


• Pearl’s Hill Terrace, hosted by Student Actions for Transformative Justice (SATU) (7pm–9pm).


• HOME Geylang Office, hosted by Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) and TJC (7pm–9pm).


• Orange & Teal, Rochester Mall, supported by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Red Dot United (RDU), and TJC (7pm–9pm).

These vigils aim to highlight compassion and justice amid ongoing efforts to halt executions under Singapore’s capital punishment regime.

Independent journalist Kirsten Han shared that the latest execution notice received by Pannir’s family was the third overall and the second this year, describing the repeated experience as “traumatic, stressful, and exhausting every time.”

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.