Status: 06/10/2022 1:39 p.m
Previously, judges in Malaysia had to impose the death penalty for certain offences. That should change now. Alternative penalties should be possible, the cabinet decided. What this could be will now be checked.
Malaysia wants to abolish the mandatory death penalty, which is the law for crimes such as murder and drug smuggling, terrorism, kidnapping and possession of firearms. In the future, judges should have the freedom to impose alternative punishments, according to a statement after a cabinet meeting.
More than 1350 people on death row
Justice Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said penalties for these crimes would be considered instead. It will take some time before the changes can be approved by Parliament, the Minister told AFP news agency.
According to Malaysian media reports, there were more than 1,350 convicts on death row in November last year. “Although a moratorium on executions remained in effect in 2021, there was no progress towards abolishing the death penalty,” said a March report by Amnesty International on human rights in Malaysia.
Amnesty: “Abolish Cruel Punishment Totally”
The government’s announcement was a “welcome step in the right direction,” said Amnesty International’s Executive Director for Malaysia, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv. The government in Kuala Lumpur must go further and “completely abolish this cruel punishment”. The mandatory death penalty has mostly affected those who live most on the fringes of society, said Maliamauv.
According to Amnesty, the death penalty is now abolished in law or practice in 144 countries – more than two-thirds of all states.