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Unveiling Singapore’s Death Penalty Discourse: A Critical Analysis of Public Opinion and Deterrent Claims

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While Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintains a firm stance on the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking in Singapore, the article presents evidence suggesting that the methodologies and interpretations of these studies might not be as substantial as portrayed.

NGO wants Putrajaya to stop Malaysian’s execution in Singapore

Screenshot from "Apprentice" by Boo Junfeng, 2016
Amnesty International Malaysia urged Putrajaya to intervene in a Malaysian’s scheduled execution for drug possession in Singapore this Friday.

The human rights group pointed out that during Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s trial, he had maintained his innocence by denying knowledge that he was carrying prohibited drugs and the Singapore High Court had found that he was a drug mule.

According to Pannir’s lawyer, he had assisted Singapore authorities by providing information about a fellow Malaysian who alleged duped him into carrying the drugs to the city-state.

Under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act, the court has the discretion not to impose the death penalty if the convicted offender is a courier and has been issued a certificate by the public prosecutor stating that he had cooperated with authorities, the statement added.

“Singapore authorities must immediately halt plans to kill Pannir Selvam Pranthaman and put a stop to this continuous wave of callous executions.

“The Malaysian government should do all in its power to urge the Singapore government to stop the execution of another of its nationals,” Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu said in a statement.

Pointing out that the number of executions last year in Singapore had risen to double digits for the 1st time since 2003, Shamini had called for Singapore to emulate Malaysia’s initiative in abolishing the mandatory death penalty.

“The death penalty is a degrading and inhuman punishment. We denounce its use in all circumstances. It is time for Singapore to follow the government of Malaysia’s example, who have suspended all executions and announced plans to abolish the mandatory death penalty, as a first step towards abolition,” she said.

The group also noted that Singapore had carried out 13 executions in 2018 and 8 in 2017 for drug-related offences, with the hanging of another Malaysian, Michael Anak Garing, carried out on March 29 this year.

In a Bernama report yesterday, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah was quoted as saying that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong was trying to convince the Singaporean government to save Pannir from the death penalty.

Pannir was convicted of possession of diamorphine in 2017 in Singapore.

Source: Malay Mail, Staff, May 22, 2019


Putrajaya trying to convince S'pore to spare M'sian on death row


The government is seeking to help a Malaysian scheduled to hang in Singapore on Friday for drug trafficking, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said today.

Saifuddin said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong is attempting to try and convince Singapore to spare P Pannir Selvam from the hangman’s noose.

“Just now I discussed this with Liew, and he is working on behalf of Putrajaya to try and convince the Singapore government to spare Pannir the death penalty,” he told reporters at a Ramadan programme in Kampung Tengah, Kluang today.

Saifuddin was asked to comment on a request from Pannir’s family for Putrajaya to intervene, because he had allegedly not been given enough opportunity to apply for clemency under the republic’s laws.

Saifuddin said in similar cases in the past, the government had also taken the same approach of trying to get lighter sentences for those on death row.

This is in line with Malaysia’s move to place a moratorium on the mandatory death sentence.

Asked how Putrajaya could resolve the allegedly short notice for carrying out the death sentence, he said there was nothing much it could do.

“Because this is how Singapore administers their law. There is not much room for us to complain, but normally what we do is we will try our best to help our people,” he said.

Today, Pannir's family through human rights group Lawyers for Liberty turned to Putrajaya as their last hope to save him from the death penalty.

This followed their unsuccessful attempts to save him, including a final clemency appeal to Singapore President Halimah Yacob.

Pannir, 32, was convicted of trafficking drugs by the Singapore High Court on June 27, 2017.

Source:  malaysiakini.com, Staff, May 22, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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