The Malaysian cabinet has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty and life imprisonment, replacing it with imprisonment for a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 40 years, and a minimum of 12 lashes of the cane.
The picture shows Amnesty International’s 2019 reasons for asking the Malaysian government to abolish the death penalty.
(AFP file photo)
[Central News Agency] The official of the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal and institutional reform in Malaysia said today that the cabinet has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty and life imprisonment. Submit to Congress.
Based on Lianhe Zaobao, Sin Chew Net and other star and Malaysian media reports, Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia in charge of legal and system reform affairs, stated in Parliament today that the cabinet meeting last week agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty and life imprisonment. , life imprisonment is no longer an alternative to the death penalty.
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Azalina pointed out that the new alternative sentence is imprisonment for a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 40 years, and a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane.
She said that the Malaysian government will submit to the Congress on the 27th the 2023 Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act and the Re-examination of the Death Penalty and Life Imprisonment Act, allowing the federal court to review cases that have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
Azalina said that the mandatory death penalty or the alternative punishment of life imprisonment is retroactive, and the new bill is expected to affect the 957 death row prisoners who have previously completed the appeal process in court and are awaiting execution and life sentences.
However, she also emphasized that the new policy is to change the sentence rather than abolish the death penalty entirely, and to give judges greater discretion in sentencing.
Foreign News previously reported that although Malaysia has suspended the execution of the death penalty since 2018, there are still many crimes that are subject to the mandatory death penalty, including murder and drug trafficking.
Regarding the Malaysian government's agreement to abolish the mandatory death penalty, human rights groups believe that this is the right direction and call on the Malaysian government to go further and move towards the complete abolition of the death penalty.