A Christian Pleads for Her Brother’s Life on Singapore’s Death Row

Convicted on drug trafficking charges, Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was baptized in prison.

September 3, 2014, felt like any other ordinary day for Angelia Pranthaman—until the Malaysian national found out that Singapore’s police had arrested her older brother Pannir Selvam Pranthaman for trafficking drugs into the Southeast Asian country.

Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers stopped 27-year-old Pannir for a random search as he tried to cross the Malaysia-Singapore border at Woodlands Checkpoint, the world’s busiest land crossing. The officers discovered he was carrying diamorphine, or heroin.

Three years later, the High Court of Singapore convicted Pannir of importing 51.84 grams of heroin from Malaysia to Singapore and sentenced him to death, setting the execution for May 24, 2019.

But Pannir did not die that day and has remained on death row for the past eight years after experiencing two stays of execution.

Singapore is one of 34 countries in the world—like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China—that punish drug offenses with a mandatory death penalty.

On September 5, Singapore’s Court of Appeal dismissed Pannir’s most recent bid to halt his execution. This means that Pannir is again “at risk” of receiving an execution notice, Angelia told Union of Catholic Asian News.

Angelia felt heartbroken and deeply disappointed when she received news of the court ruling. “This decision was devastating,” she told Christianity Today. “At the same time, we felt a strange sense of calmness because we knew that God was still powerful even in this painful moment.”

Singapore is one of 34 countries in the world—like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China—that punish drug offenses with a mandatory death penalty, which the country introduced in 1973. It has one of the world’s strictest drug laws—anyone caught trafficking 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine, 250 grams of methamphetamine, or 500 grams of cannabis will face capital punishment.

Many Singaporean evangelicals in the country favor the death penalty, as they consider it a helpful and even necessary deterrent to the proliferation of drug-related crimes in the country. More than two-thirds (74.6%) of Protestants supported capital punishment, a 2018 research project revealed.

In Malaysia, some Christians feel otherwise, noting there is room to practice greater compassion in the criminal justice system. Just over half (54%) of Malaysian Protestants are not opposed to abolishing the mandatory death penalty, according to a 2013 survey. Two years ago, the country scrapped the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes, including drug trafficking.

To Angelia, Pannir’s sentence leaves no room for the redemptive arc she has seen in her brother’s life. “No one should be defined by the worst mistake made, and every human life has value and potential for redemption,” Angelia said.

Pannir was born in Ipoh, Malaysia. The son of a pastor, he attended Emmanuel Tamil Assembly Church, where he played the drums, guitar, and keyboard on the worship team.

In 2010, he started working in Singapore while living in the nearby Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.

At a gambling den there, Pannir became friends with a man named Anand, who asked him to transport goods from Malaysia into Singapore. This led to Pannir’s arrest and 2017 conviction, as the Singapore High Court found insufficient evidence to prove Pannir was unaware of the contents of the goods he had transported.

The 2017 court judgment noted several inconsistencies in Pannir’s statements, which led the judge to question whether he was a “truthful witness.” For instance, Pannir originally said he had transported the goods because he needed money, but he later claimed it was Anand facing financial difficulties.

Pannir also initially said he did not know what goods he was carrying, but he later claimed they were drugs or aphrodisiacs.

Source: Christianity Today, Eliannah Yeo, September 18, 2025

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

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement. “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

China | Former Chinese senior banker Bai Tianhui executed for taking US$155 million in bribes

Bai is the second senior figure from Huarong to be put to death for corruption following the execution of Lai Xiaomin in 2021 China has executed a former senior banker who was found guilty of taking more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$155 million) in bribes. Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of the asset management firm China Huarong International Holdings, was executed on Tuesday after the Supreme People’s Court approved the sentence, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Iran | Child Bride Saved from the Gallows After Blood Money Raised Through Donations, Charities

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 9, 2025: Goli Kouhkan, a 25-year-old undocumented Baluch child bride who was scheduled to be executed within weeks, has been saved from the gallows after the diya (blood money) was raised in time. According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency , the plaintiffs in the case of Goli Kouhkan, have agreed to forgo their right to execution as retribution. In a video, the victim’s parents are seen signing the relevant documents. Goli’s lawyer, Parand Gharahdaghi, confirmed in a social media post that the original 10 billion (approx. 100,000 euros) toman diya was reduced to 8 billion tomans (approx. 80,000 euros) and had been raised through donations and charities.

Who Gets Hanged in Singapore?

Singapore’s death penalty has been in the news again. Enshrined in law in 1975, a decade after the island split from Malaysia and became an independent state, the penalty can see people sentenced to hang for drug trafficking, murder or firearms offenses, among other crimes. Executions have often involved trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with offenses measured in grams. Those executed have included people from low-income backgrounds and foreign nationals who are sometimes not fluent in English, according to human rights advocates such as Amnesty International and the International Drug Policy Consortium.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

USA | Should Medical Research Regulations and Informed Consent Principles Apply to States’ Use of Experimental Execution Methods?

New drugs and medical treatments undergo rigorous testing to ensure they are safe and effective for public use. Under federal and state regulations, this testing typically involves clinical trials with human subjects, who face significant health and safety risks as the first people exposed to experimental treatments. That is why the law requires them to be fully informed of the potential effects and give their voluntary consent to participate in trials. Yet these regulations have not been followed when states seek to use novel and untested execution methods — subjecting prisoners to potentially torturous and unconstitutionally painful deaths. Some experts and advocates argue that states must be bound by the ethical and human rights principles of biomedical research before using these methods on prisoners.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog