Amendment to Section 39B of Dangerous Drugs Act made to serve public interest

KUALA LUMPUR: The amendment to Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 was made to serve public interest (maslahat umum) and for the good of the nation, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

She said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak felt the time had come for such an initiative to be taken in the government's agenda to fight against drug abuse, which is the country's number one enemy.

“We have waited 34 years to change the mandatory sentence to discretionary punishment.

“We are taking into consideration the public interests and wellbeing of the Malaysian population who now numbered over 30 million,” she when winding up the debate on the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2017 at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here yesterday.

The bill, which was later passed with a majority vote, will do away with the mandatory death sentence provided under Section 39B of the existing Act, and is aimed at giving more room to the court to exercise its discretionary power in sentencing the convicted drug offender.

Azalina said the amendment did not mean that the government was not concerned and had planned to convict and punish all offenders charged under Section 39B.

“We do not want the judges' hands to be tied, that is why we are giving them the power to use their discretion... Section 39B demands the prosecution to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt, if the prosecution's case is flawed, the accused goes free.

“Even if the accused is convicted, he can still appeal right up to the Appeals Court, it does not mean that when he is convicted, he will be sent straightaway to the gallows or to serve life imprisonment,” she said.