01 December 2021 :

Singapore’s highest court on 26 November 2021 upheld the death sentence of two Indian-origin men, who had been convicted of conspiring to traffic at least 1.34 kg of cannabis in March 2016, The Straits Times reported.
Malaysian Kamalnathan Muniandy, 27, and Singaporean Chandroo Subramaniam, 52, had denied being involved in the operation and knowing about the drugs.
The Court of Appeal also dismissed an appeal made by a third man involved in the case, Indian-origin Malaysian national Pravinash Chandran, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane for having the drugs in his possession.
Earlier, the High Court had found that Pravinash, 26, was a mere courier of the drugs, and the prosecution had certified that he had helped disrupt drug trafficking activities.
On 5 March 2016, Kamalnathan and Pravinash arrived in Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint, a causeway link with southern Peninsular Malaysia.
When they arrived at Kranji MRT (rail) station, the drugs were placed in Pravinash's haversack. Both men then went to a nearby coffee shop where Kamalnathan called a man identified as Suren.
They later went to Kranji Road, where they established contact with Chandroo, who handed them money and empty plastic bags.
The trio was arrested by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) shortly after parting ways. The drugs were found in Pravinash's haversack, said the court in a judgment released on 26 November.
While the men gave varying accounts, the High Court judge relied heavily on Pravinash's account, which implicated Kamalnathan as the one in charge of the operation and Chandroo as the person who the drugs were meant to be delivered to, said Justices Andrew Phang, Steven Chong and Belinda Ang.
They found that the High Court judge had been right in rejecting Kamalnathan and Chandroo's accounts.

17 November 2021 :

A 39-year-old Indian origin Malaysian who was caught with a bag of drugs in 2018 was sentenced to death on 17 November 2021 by a Singapore court for trafficking.
The death sentence comes within weeks as another drug trafficker, a 33-year old Malaysian Indian, awaits the outcome of his last ditch appeal to be spared the gallows while his hanging, originally scheduled for 10 November, has been stayed due to COVID-19 infection.
Munusamy Ramarmurth, a cleaning supervisor, was convicted by the High Court on 17 November. He was caught with a bag of drugs in his motorcycle parked along Harbourfront Avenue, according to media reports.
He was caught with 6.3kg of a granular substance, which was found to contain 57.54g of heroin after analysis.
Justice Audrey Lim, in written grounds issued on 15 November, explained her decision to convict Munusamy, saying she disbelieved his contention that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones.
The judge also rejected his claim that he had allowed a compatriot to store the bag temporarily in the rear box of his motorcycle so that another man could collect it later.
Munusamy, who has worked in Singapore for 14 years, was arrested on the afternoon of 26 January 2018, in the cleaners' room at Harbourfront Centre Tower 2.
He was then escorted to his motorcycle parked at the open-air carpark at Keppel Bay Tower. A red plastic bag, containing bundles of drugs, was found in the rear box of his bike.
During his trial, Munusamy said he had allowed a Malaysian named Saravanan to store the bag temporarily in the box. He said Saravanan told him someone known as "Boy" would collect it.
Munusamy claimed that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones because in July 2017, Saravanan and Boy had asked him to help store some stolen phones in the box.
He said Saravanan told him the items in the bag were "panas".
Munusamy said the term meant "stolen item" although his lawyer, Mahadevan Lukshumayeh, did not dispute that it could also refer to illegal drugs.
Justice Lim concluded that Munusamy's story was made up.
The judge found Munusamy knew what was in the bag.
She noted that he knew Saravanan was involved in drug activities, yet he did not check the contents of the bag.

13 October 2021 :

Singapore's highest court on 12 October 2021 denied an appeal against a man's conviction and death sentence for allegedly smuggling cannabis weighing at least 1kg into the city-state from neighbouring Malaysia.
Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, was detained in 2018 during a routine border checkpoint encounter when officials discovered three bundles of the narcotic in his car.
He was tried and condemned to death by hanging in February.
A court heard that his father, who was also in the car, was unaware of the narcotics and was not charged with any crime. 
Omar's defence at trial was that he had no idea what the bundles were at the time.
He stated that his friends, Din and Latif, had put the packages in his luggage without his knowledge.

09 November 2021 :

Singapore’s High Court on 8 November 2021 suspended the scheduled execution of a Malaysian man believed to be mentally disabled until an appeal is heard, amid pleas from the international community and rights groups.
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 33, was due to be executed by hanging on 10 November for trying to smuggle less than 43 grams (1.5 ounces) of heroin into the country.
The court granted a stay of the execution after Nagaenthran’s defense lawyer, M. Ravi, argued that capital punishment for a mentally disabled person was a violation of Singapore’s Constitution.
Ravi’s application was dismissed, but the stay on the execution was granted “pending the hearing of the appeal to the Court of Appeal,” Singapore’s top court, the lawyer said on Facebook.
The appeal is scheduled to be heard in court on 9 November. If this fails, the stay will be lifted and Nagaenthran could be executed as scheduled.
Narcotics officers found a small bundle of heroin strapped to Nagaenthran’s left thigh at a checkpoint more than a decade ago. He was sentenced to death in November 2010 under the country’s strict drug laws. A previous appeal to reduce the penalty to life in prison failed and a final push for presidential clemency was rejected last year.
Death penalty opponents say Nagaenthran’s IQ was disclosed during a trial at the High Court as 69, a level that is internationally recognized as an intellectual disability.
But the court ruled that Nagaenthran knew what he was doing and upheld the death sentence.

06 December 2021 :

Malaysian drug mule Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, 34, who was granted a stay of execution two years ago in Singapore, failed in his appeal on 26 November 2021 to start a court challenge against his death sentence.
After his application for permission to start judicial review proceedings was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Pannir spoke to his lawyers, Mr Too Xing Ji and Mr Lee Ji En, through the glass panel of the dock.
The trio then bowed their heads in a quiet prayer.
Mr Too, who was in tears, told reporters that his client has not given instructions to file any further application.
The apex court decision hinged on whether information provided by Pannir to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) had substantively assisted the agency in disrupting drug trafficking activities.
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, drug couriers who are issued a certificate of substantive assistance by the prosecution can be sentenced to life imprisonment and caning instead of the death penalty.
Pannir contended that he had provided information that led to the arrest of a drug trafficker named Zamri Mohd Tahir and argued that he should be issued a certificate of substantive assistance. On 26 November, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said the statute contemplates that the information must have been used by CNB in some way. He said "used" in this context may mean arrest, apprehension or conviction, or the making of wider strategic decisions such as when to launch enforcement.
The court, which also comprised Justices Judith Prakash and Steven Chong, will issue fuller written grounds at a later date.
Pannir was convicted in 2017 of importing 51.84g of heroin into Singapore and sentenced to the mandatory death penalty. After his appeal was dismissed in February 2018, he and his family submitted clemency petitions to President Halimah Yacob, which were rejected.
Senior State Counsel Francis Ng said in written submissions that the CNB confirmed that information provided by Pannir, who failed to identify Zamri when shown a series of photographs by the CNB, did not assist in Zamri's arrest.
On 23 May 2019, a day before Pannir was scheduled to hang, the apex court granted him temporary reprieve to seek legal advice on whether he could mount a court challenge.

19 April 2021 :

A new Malaysian NGO, Sebaran Kasih has embarked on producing a song written by an inmate, Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who is in the Changi Prison in Singapore awaiting execution, the New Straits Times reported on 17 April 2021.
Supported by Amnesty International, Lawyers for Liberty and the Asean Community Against Death Penalty, Sebaran Kasih officially launched the first ever single on 16 April titled 'Arah Tuju - A musical journey of forgiveness and mercy starts now'.
In 2017, Malaysian musician Pannir was found guilty and sentenced to death by the Singapore High Court for trafficking 51.8g of diamorphine at the Woodlands checkpoint in 2014.
Sebaran Kasih is sponsored by a Paris-based NGO against capital punishment called Together Against Death Penalty.
Founder Angelia Pranthaman said they choose to publish the death row inmate's song to capture the attention of the youngsters out there.
"Of course, we also hope to raise pressure on withdrawing the death sentence for the writer, who is my brother Pannir, who has been unfairly given the death sentence," Angelia said.
She hoped it would change public perception on death row inmates.
"Music is a universal language and we believe that through the launch of this single, sang by an influential local singer with a notable record in the Malaysian Book of Records, Santesh Kumar, we will make an impact on the legal system in countries still practising capital punishment", she added.

01 February 2021 :

A man born in Singapore wanted in relation to a murder case nearly four decades ago is in jail in Australia, but the country’s Attorney-General’s Department has said he cannot be extradited if he faces the death penalty.
Seventy-seven-year-old Tham Kwok Wah is a suspect in the murder of a man believed to have been thrown from a hotel balcony in Singapore way back in 1984.
At present, Tham is in jail in Australia due to filing A$104,000 in bogus pension benefits.
Under that country’s law, he cannot be extradited if possible capital punishment awaits him.
The straitstimes.com quotes the Australian Attorney-General’s Department as saying “extradition is not allowed where the offence is subject to the death penalty, unless an undertaking is provided that the death penalty will not be imposed or, if imposed, not carried out”.
Tham, who has lived in Australia under an assumed name for many years, pleaded guilty on November 2019 to fraud and passport deception. He is currently serving a jail term of six years and nine months.
During the course of his trial he acknowledged what his real name is, and that he was born in Singapore on 7 October 1943.
He also admitted that he came in Australia in 1986 under the name Tham Kwok Theng, when he was 43 years old.
Tham is a suspect in relation to the murder of 26-year-old Mr Gan Thian Chai, who was found dead on the grounds of the Sea View Hotel in Amber Road.
Mr Gan is believed to have been attacked prior to being thrown over the balcony of the seventh floor of the hotel. It was reported at that time that the pathologist had found wounds on the victim inconsistent with his fall.
In the course of their investigation, police found evidence that gambling had transpired on the night of Mr Gan’s death, and said that there may have been a fight that broke out.