Pallade Veneta - Singapore stays execution of Malaysian for second time

Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, 37, had been scheduled for execution at the city-state's Changi Prison for trafficking 51.84 grams (1.83 ounces) of heroin, six years after he was first due to hang.

However, a judge ordered a stay of execution late on Wednesday, citing the pending outcome of a complaint by Pannir to Singapore's law society against his former lawyer for alleged misconduct, court documents seen by AFP on Thursday showed.

News of the reprieve came after relatives and anti-death penalty advocates staged an evening vigil in Malaysia on Wednesday, lighting candles in front of the Singaporean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

"It's a huge relief that Pannir wasn't executed this morning. But the fight isn't over, a stay is only temporary," Singapore activist Kirsten Han told AFP.

"We need to continue pushing forward with the abolitionist movement. We urgently need a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Singapore, and eventually full abolition," she said.

It was the second time Pannir avoided the hangman's noose.

He was scheduled to be hanged on May 24, 2019, after his conviction two years earlier but was granted a similar stay the day before.

The United Nations and rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for it to be abolished, but Singaporean officials insist it has helped make it one of Asia's safest countries.

Under Singapore's tough drug laws, the death penalty applies for any amount above a 15-gram (0.53-ounce) threshold for heroin and 500 grams for cannabis.

Singapore has executed three prisoners since the start of the year -- two for drug trafficking and one for a double murder.

According to an AFP tally, Singapore has hanged 28 people, most of them drug traffickers, since it resumed carrying out the death penalty in March 2022 after a two-year halt during the Covid-19 pandemic.

S.Urciuoli--PV