CABINET APPROVES SCRAPPING DEATH PENALTY
Amendments to laws will be tabled in next Dewan Rakyat sitting, says de facto law minister
AMENDMENTS to legislation to end the death sentence will be tabled in the next parliamentary sitting. The de facto law minister also says that no executions should be carried out for the meantime.
THE cabinet has given the green light for the death penalty to be abolished. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the amendments to the existing laws imposing the death penalty would be tabled in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting.
The Dewan Rakyat Budget sitting will commence on Oct 15.
Liew said the necessary paperwork to abolish the penalty which was in the final stages had received the go-ahead from the Attorney-General Chambers to be tabled in Parliament.
He said until the abolishment of the death penalty takes place there should also be in place a moratorium on death sentences.
“All death penalty will be abolished. Full stop.
“We are studying certain issues. We need to look into it and get views from all (parties), but as it stands today, the decision is to abolish the death penalty,” he said.
Liew, who is in charge of legal affairs said this after attending the “Law Reform Talk” at Universiti Malaya here yesterday.
He said with the government’s move to abolish the death penalty, the Pardons Board will be tasked at looking into the position of death row convicts, which will either see their sentences commuted or released.
“Our view is that executions should not be carried out.
“We will inform the Pardons Board to look into the various applications for death row inmates to either commuted or they be released.
“When commuted, they will have to face life imprisonment because there had been several deaths that were caused by the offenders and so they were sentenced to death by the court.”
Liew added that different consideration must be given to convicts, who for example, committed less serious offences, such as being used as a drug mule.
In Malaysia, the death penalty carried out by hanging is mandatory for crimes, such as murder with intent to kill, for trafficking excessive amounts of drugs and possession of firearms.
Between 2007 and last year, 35 individuals faced the gallows.
A total of 1,267 prisoners are on death row, making up 2.7 per cent of the 60,000 behind bars.