SINGAPORE: Online news outlet MalaysiaNow was issued a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) correction direction by the Singapore government on Saturday (Nov 15).The correction order relates to an article published by MalaysiaNow on Nov 9 that contains false statements concerning the treatment of convicted drug courier Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a press release.“The government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of falsehoods,” said the ministry, adding that MalaysiaNow will be required to carry correction notices alongside the article on its website, Facebook, X and LinkedIn posts.MHA said the MalaysiaNow article made several false statements, including that Pannir’s execution was carried out without regard for the rule of law and that the government’s decision not to issue a certificate of substantive assistance to Pannir was unlawful.The article also claimed the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) secretly facilitated an interview of Pannir by the Malaysian police and that at the interview, a CNB officer wore a Malaysia police (PDRM) uniform and deliberately hid his identity as a CNB officer.The article additionally falsely stated that the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) officers attempted to mislead Pannir’s family into signing a form stating that all of Pannir’s belongings had been handed over to them.TIMELINE OF THE CASEMHA said an execution will only be scheduled when a prisoner awaiting capital punishment has exhausted all legal processes in relation to his conviction and sentence, and after the issue of clemency has been dealt with.This is the case for all such prisoners, including Pannir, it added.The ministry also laid out the facts of the case:On Sep 3, 2014, Pannir was arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint where he was found to be in possession of one packet of granular/powdery substance in the back seat compartment of his motorcycle, and three packets of similar substance concealed at his groin area.On May 2, 2017, the High Court convicted and sentenced him to death for importing into Singapore, not less than 51.84g of diamorphine, or pure heroin, which is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 620 abusers for a week.On Feb 9, 2018, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against his conviction and sentence. MHA said he was accorded full due process under the law and represented by legal counsel throughout the trial and appeal.Following the dismissal of his appeal, Pannir was involved in 11 post-appeal applications between 2019 and 2025, seven of which were joint applications with other prisoners awaiting capital punishment. MHA said all of these applications had concluded by the time of his execution, with the last application dismissed on Oct 7, 2025.Six petitions for clemency were submitted to the President on his behalf, all of which were rejected.Pannir was first scheduled for execution on May 24, 2019. The execution was stayed because of a last-minute application that he filed to challenge the rejection of his clemency petition. This was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Nov 26, 2021.Pannir was scheduled for execution a second time on Feb 20, 2025. He was granted a stay of execution to make another application against his capital sentence. The application was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Sep 5, 2025.“It is therefore false and misleading to suggest that the execution of Pannir on Oct 8, 2025 was carried out without regard for the rule of law,” said MHA.“Pannir was accorded full due process under the law, and was scheduled for execution after he had exhausted all legal processes (including the clemency process) in relation to his conviction and sentence.”PANNIR HAD NOT PROVIDED SUBSTANTIVE ASSISTANCE TO CNB: MHAUnder the law, a person facing a capital charge of drug trafficking or importation may be sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.This is provided that the following requirements are met: His involvement is limited to that of being a courier as defined in section 33B(2)(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, and the Public Prosecutor has issued a certificate of substantive assistance to certify to the court that, in his or her determination, the person has substantively assisted CNB in disrupting drug trafficking activities within or outside Singapore.Under section 33B(4) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, MHA said the determination of whether any person has substantively assisted CNB in disrupting drug trafficking activities is at the sole discretion of the Public Prosecutor.MHA said Pannir was not issued a certificate of substantive assistance as the Public Prosecutor determined that he had not provided substantive assistance to CNB, adding that Pannir’s legal challenge against the Public Prosecutor’s decision not to issue a certificate of substantive assistance was also dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Nov 26, 2021.“Contrary to what is stated, Pannir did not provide information that led to the arrest of Zamri Tahir. CNB arrested Zamri Tahir based on information that it already had,” said the ministry.Pannir’s lawyers had previously argued that Pannir gave information to the CNB that led to Zamri’s arrest, which they called an “example par excellence” of substantive assistance.ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CNB, SPSCNB facilitated an interview between the Malaysian Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) and Pannir on Sep 27 this year, pursuant to a formal request by NCID. MHA said CNB works closely with its overseas counterparts and will facilitate requests, where possible.“The interview process was open and aboveboard – SPS had notified Pannir of the interview request. Pannir did not object to being interviewed, nor did he request for his lawyer to be present. Pannir was also not prohibited from consulting his family or his counsel,” said MHA.“The NCID officers interviewed Pannir in the presence of a CNB officer, who was not wearing a Malaysian police uniform or posing as a Malaysian police officer. Thus, contrary to what is alleged, Pannir’s counsel was not ‘excluded’, and the officers’ identities were not concealed.”MHA also noted that prior to his execution, Pannir requested to hand over his handwritten letters and poems to his family.SPS reviewed these items and assessed that the content of a few pages affected the security or good order of the prison. These pages were therefore withheld by SPS, as permitted under the law.After Pannir’s execution, MHA said SPS officers met with Pannir’s family to hand over Pannir’s belongings and requested they sign a form acknowledging that the items indicated on the form were returned to them.“Pannir’s family then claimed that some pages of Pannir’s documents were missing. The officers informed them that the documents were screened in accordance with SPS’s screening guidelines and that pages which did not meet the guidelines were withheld. Eventually, Pannir’s family took over Pannir’s belongings without signing the form,” said MHA.“At no point did SPS attempt to mislead Pannir’s family into signing a form stating that all of his belongings were returned to them.”More information can be found on government fact-checking website Factually.