Pannir Selvam Pranthaman is a 38-year-old Malaysian on death row in Singapore for trafficking 51.8g of diamorphine. Pannir was not a kingpin nor a drug lord but a man caught in the web of poverty, desperation, and manipulation. 

Back in 2020, I interviewed the sister of Pannir Selvam and human rights lawyer Latheefa Koya, about Pannir’s journey and the need to abolish the death penalty. Now, nearly four years later, the fight to save him has reached its most critical moment. 

According to his former lawyer, M Ravi, Pannir will be executed this Thursday, the 20th of February.  In a recent Facebook post, Ravi shared that Pannir’s sister had received a letter from the prison confirming his execution.

HAYAT, which is an NGO working on rehabilitative and restorative justice, released a statement that reads, "His status as a courier was acknowledged by Singapore courts, and he provided extensive information to authorities during the investigation. The information was also given to Singaporean authorities by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) through his family via a police report."

Despite the years-long efforts of his family and activists, his fate remains unchanged. 

In this episode, we're joined by Dobby Chew, who's the CEO of HAYAT. We discuss if there’s still room left to save Pannir and also if the war on drugs and the death penalty solves the problem of drug trafficking.

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