Bill to amend Drug Act passed to provide element of mercy

KUALA LUMPUR: A bill to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act was passed in Dewan Rakyat yesterday, with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said saying it was for the nation’s good.

She said the abolishment of the mandatory death penalty for drug offences had taken 34 years.

“The government had taken into consideration the views and suggestions of 30 million Malaysians in drafting the amendgrounds ment, which will add an element of mercy in certain situations that the judge sees fit,” she said in winding up the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2017.

She dismissed criticism from the opposition that the government was unconcerned and punitive towards offenders charged under Section 39B of the act.

Azalina said the amendment did not mean that the judges’ hands would be bound by the government.

Rather, it would give them two choices in meting out punishment, either hanging or life imprisonment.

She noted that Section 39B was strict and defendants must be proven guilty “beyond reasonable doubt”, or there would be for appeal. Azalina said those convicted could end up being acquitted after appeal.

In other words, those sentenced would not necessarily lose their lives or end up in prison for a lifetime. At the same time, Azalina added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak felt it was time for such initiatives to be taken, in line with the government’s war on drugs, which was the country’s main enemy.

She said police statistics had recorded a high number of drug cases, with 702,319 people arrested for drug trafficking from January 2014 to October this year.

Even more worrying were the arrests of 1,743 schoolchildren and 1,953 tertiary students.