Category: Malaysia

Singapore, Stop Execution of Malaysian Prabu N Pathmanathan

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The family of 31-year-old Malaysian Prabu N Pathmanathan were informed last week he would be executed on Friday..Prabu, 31, had been sentenced to death for committing several acts preparatory to and for the purposes of trafficking in 227.82g of diamorphine or heroin into the island state on Dec 31, 2014.

Law Minister to appeal to S’pore to commute Malaysian’s death sentence

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Liew Vui Keong will write a letter to the Singapore government to urge it to commute the death sentence of a Malaysian man who is scheduled to be executed on Friday (Oct 26).

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said he hoped that Singapore would commute Prabu Pathmanathan’s sentence to life imprisonment.

Prabu, 31, had been sentenced to death for committing several acts preparatory to and for the purposes of trafficking in 227.82g of diamorphine or heroin into the island state on Dec 31, 2014.

“It will be a sad day. I hope they don’t do it,” he told reporters on Wednesday (Oct 24) when asked what would happen if Singapore went ahead with the execution.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lawyers for Liberty advisor N. Surendran urged Putrajaya to make “urgent and strenuous” efforts to save Prabu from the gallows.

Surendran said Prabu’s family had been informed that the execution would be held at Changi Prison on Friday for alleged drug trafficking.

“The family was only informed of the Friday hanging on Oct 20 via a letter from the Singapore Prison Services, which is less than one week’s notice.

“In the same chilling letter, the family was asked to make the ‘necessary funeral arrangements’,” Surendran said.

 

According to Surendran, there were doubts surrounding Prabu’s conviction, adding that the drugs was found in a vehicle driven by another person, and not Prabu.

He also claimed that the confessions obtained from Prabu by the prosecution for the trial were made under duress.

The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign also called for the Singapore government to halt the execution of Prabu.

“Not only is it irreversible once an execution takes place, it also creates another set of victims – the loved ones of the executed,” it said in a statement.

On Oct 15, Liew had announced that the Malaysian government would go ahead with plans to completely abolish the death penalty in this country. – Star, 24/10/2018

Human rights groups urge Singapore to halt imminent executions

City-state expected to execute two men, including a Malaysian, following convictions for drug offences.

View through a vehicle window shows cell blocks inside Singapore's Changi Prison [Vivek Prakash/Reuters]
View through a vehicle window shows cell blocks inside Singapore’s Changi Prison [Vivek Prakash/Reuters]

Singapore is being urged to halt the planned execution on Friday of two men convicted of drug-related offences amid reports four people were hanged in the city-state in the past three weeks.

The family of 31-year-old Malaysian Prabu N Pathmanathan were informed last week he would be executed on Friday, human rights groups said. Another man is also scheduled to hang but has not been named.

“Singapore authorities must immediately halt plans to kill these men and put a stop to this recent wave of callous executions,” Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International’s Singapore researcher, said in a statement.

Singapore reportedly hanged a man on Wednesday and three others on October 5 also for drug-related offences, the group said.

Lawyers for Liberty, a Kuala Lumpur-based legal firm that specialises in human rights cases, urged the Malaysian government to intervene to stop the hanging.

Executions are usually carried out at dawn at Changi Prison.

“The death penalty is cruel and inhuman and particularly so when used in drugs cases, which results in the execution of drug mules from poor socio-economic backgrounds,” the firm’s N Surendran said in a statement.

‘Barbarity’

Admitting time was “running out”, Surendran and Prabu’s mother and sister delivered an appeal for clemency to Singapore’s president, Halimah Yacob, on Thursday.

“Malaysia has recognised the barbarity of the death penalty and has recently announced its total abolition. Having taken that position, the Malaysian government must do everything possible to save citizens abroad who are facing execution,” it said.

Malaysia’s government that was elected in May has suspended executions and announced its intention to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

De facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said he would write to the Singapore government to request Prabu’s death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment, local media reported on Thursday. Prabu was sentenced to death in relation to the trafficking of 228kg of heroin into the island state at the end of 2014.

“It is time for Singapore to re-establish its moratorium on the death penalty and follow the government of Malaysia’s example,” Amnesty’s Chhoa-Howard said.

Amnesty said it believes Singapore has carried out six executions this year, all in relation to drug-offences. It said there were eight executions last year. Singapore does not publicly disclose information about its use of the death penalty.

Capital punishment was imposed or implemented for drug-related offences in 15 countries last year, but executions for such crimes were recorded in only four – China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

One-hundred and six countries across the world have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. – Al Jazeera, 25/10/2018

Malaysia:- Decision made to Abolish the Death Penalty

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Malaysia has just announced that the Cabinet has decided to abolish the Death Penalty, and the Bills to give effect to this decision will be tabled in the upcoming Parliamentary session beginning 15 October 2018.

 

Media Statement – 11/10/2018

MADPET welcomes Malaysian Cabinet Decision to Abolish the Death Penalty

MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) welcomes the announcement that the Malaysian Cabinet has finally decided to abolish the death penalty, and that the needed Bill will be tabled at the next Parliamentary session, now scheduled to begin on 15/10/2018.

In the evening of 10 October 2018, the 16th World Day Against the Death Penalty, it was reported in the media that ‘…The Cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and it will be tabled in the next Parliament sitting, which will begin on October 15, said Datuk Liew Vui Keong.The minister in charge of law in the Prime Minister’s Department said while the government is studying certain cases, as of now, all executions have been halted.“All death penalty will be abolished. Full stop….’(Malay Mail, 10/10/2018)

With regard persons currently on death row ‘…the Pardons Board will be tasked with looking into the applications of death row inmates. “Our view is that executions should not be carried out we will inform the Pardons Board to look into the various applications for all the death row inmates to either commute or release them…’ (Malay Mail, 10/10/2018)

This will certainly be good news for the spouses, children and relatives of the about 1,267 people on death row or 2.7% of the prison population of about 60,000 people.(Star, 28/6/2018). Their parent and/or relative will no longer be hanged to death and will live.

Whilst the announcement of the cabinet decision by the Minister is most welcome, in Malaysia, one will have to wait until the needed Bills are tabled in Parliament, become law and then put into force, hopefully by the end of 2018. Malaysians have been subjected by similar promises and/or assurances by Ministers in the past government, only to be later disappointed.

As such, it is our hope that the said Bills that will effectively abolish the death penalty will be tabled at the upcoming Parliamentary session, at the very least for the First Reading, if there be no time for it to be debated and passed.

MADPET hopes that Members of Parliament and Senators from the Opposition parties will fully support the just move to abolish the death penalty.

MADPET await the day when we can finally celebrate the abolition of the death penalty in law, and there will be no more death row in Malaysia.

Charles Hector

For and on behalf of MADPET

Note:-

  • Malay Mail, 10/10/2018 – Minister: Putrajaya to abolish death penalty [https://www.malaymail.com/s/1681448/minister-putrajaya-to-abolish-death-penalty]
  • The Business Times, 10/10/2018 – Malaysia To Abolish Death Penalty [https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/malaysia-to-abolish-death-penalty]

‘Don’t block death penalty abolition’ – NGO tells opposition MPs and senators

Published: Today 11:38 am  |  Modified: Today 1:44 pm

 

The Malaysian Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) has called on the opposition and BN-controlled Dewan Negara to support Putrajaya’s plan to abolish the death penalty.

Madpet spokesperson Charles Hector said the cabinet decision to abolish the death penalty yesterday was good news for some 1,267 people facing death row.

“Madpet hopes the MPs and senators from the opposition parties will fully support the just move to abolish the death penalty,” he said in a statement today.

Hector added that Madpet hoped Putrajaya will follow through with its decision, pointing out that the previous BN government had also made similar indications which never materialised.

The BN-controlled Dewan Negara had previously blocked the abolition of the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 after the Dewan Rakyat approved its repeal.

Meanwhile, National Human Rights Society (Hakam) president Gurdial Singh Nijar said the decision was “historic” and a fulfilment of Pakatan Harapan government’s manifesto.

“A death penalty is irreversible. There have been cases where the wrong people have been sentenced to death for a variety of reasons – including poor quality of defence. Thus, innocent lives are put at risk.

“Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the US in 1976, 138 innocent men and women have been released from death row, including some who came within minutes of execution. No such research has been conducted in Malaysia,” he said in a separate statement.

Gurdial acknowledged that the families of murder victims suffer a great sense of loss and are traumatised but stressed that the execution of another does not help them heal nor does it end their pain.

“Perhaps there are other ways the state can help such families, especially those of murder victims – such as the provision of funds now being used for the costly process of executions,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty advisor N Surendran lauded Putrajaya’s decision as “remarkable”.

However, he added that the government should also fight for Malaysian citizens facing the death sentence abroad.

“At this moment, let us also not forget the many hundreds of Malaysians who are languishing on death row in foreign countries, particularly for being drug mules.

“A large number of Malaysians are awaiting execution just across the causeway in Singapore, mainly for drug offences,” he said in a statement.

One such example, Surendran said, was the execution of S Prabagaran (photo) in Singapore last year.

“The BN government did nothing to save him… I, myself, as his lawyer was in communication with then deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who personally assured me that he would help save Prabagaran.

“But in the end, Zahid was no help at all. Neither he nor the BN government said or did anything serious to stop the execution.

“We call upon the government to vigorously speak up for our citizens facing death in distant shores. Having rejected the death penalty in this country, we now have the moral authority to fight for the lives of our citizens abroad,” he said. – Malaysiakini, 11/10/2018

GAMBAR fail, Yang Dipertua Dewan Negara, Tan Sri S A Vigneswaran. – Foto Sairien Nafis

Hukuman mati: MP pembangkang, senator usah sabotaj pula

Oleh Luqman Arif Abdul Karim

cnews@nstp.com.my

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Hasrat kerajaan untuk menghapuskan pelaksanaan hukuman mati mandatori bersandarkan prinsip kemanusiaan diharap tidak disabotaj pembangkang yang ketika ini mempelopori kuasa Dewan Negara.

 

Jurucakap Malaysia Menentang Hukuman Mati dan Penyeksaan (MADPET), Charles Hector Fernandez, ketika menyuarakan pendirian itu berkata janji atau jaminan sama pernah diusulkan pentadbiran terdahulu, namun ia akhirnya mengundang kekecewaan dalam kalangan masyarakat dan aktivis apabila gagal ditepati.

Sehubungan itu, katanya, MADPET berharap ahli Parlimen dan Senator daripada blok pembangkang akan memberikan sokongan penuh terhadap keputusan yang adil oleh kerajaan ketika membentangkan usul untuk menghapuskan hukuman mati mandatori.

“Oleh itu, kami harap usul menghapuskan hukuman mati mandatori ini dibentangkan pada sidang Parlimen akan datang, mulai 15 Oktober ini, sekurang-kurangnya untuk bacaan kali pertama sekiranya tiada masa mencukupi bagi perbahasan dan diluluskan,” katanya dalam kenyataan, hari ini.

Persidangan Dewan Negara, pada 12 September lalu, melakar kejutan apabila menolak Rang Undang-Undang Antiberita Tidak Benar (Pemansuhan) 2018 yang sebelum itu diluluskan di Dewan Rakyat pada 16 Ogos lalu selepas bacaan kali ketiga.

Perkara itu diumumkan Yang Dipertua Dewan Negara, Tan Sri S A Vigneswaran, selepas undi belah bahagian menyaksikan 28 anggota dewan tidak menyokong pemansuhan akta itu berbanding 21 yang menyokong, manakala tiga yang lain memilih untuk tidak mengundi.

Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, semalam dilaporkan berkata pelaksanaan hukuman mati mandatori bagi semua kesalahan akan dimansuhkan di negara ini.

Susulan pengumuman itu, katanya, semua pelaksanaan hukuman mati akan ditangguhkan sehingga pemansuhan berkenaan berkuat kuasa.

Mengulas lanjut, Fernandez menyifatkan pengumuman itu ialah khabar gembira untuk waris dan ahli keluarga kira-kira 1,267 banduan yang ketika ini menanti hukuman mati mandatori.

“Perangkaan yang mewakili 2.7 peratus daripada keseluruhan 60,000 banduan ini akhirnya tidak akan digantung, justeru ahli keluarga dan ibu bapanya berupaya menarik nafas lega kerana mereka masih diberikan peluang untuk meneruskan hidup. – Berita Harian, 11/10/2018

Next, save Malaysians sentenced to death abroad, Putrajaya told

Published 1 hour ago on 11 October 2018

By Zurairi AR

Surendran reminded the Pakatan Harapan government that many citizens are awaiting execution in other countries, including in Singapore, mainly for drug offences. ― Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Civil group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) urged today the federal government to rescue Malaysians on death row abroad after announcing its plan to abolish capital punishment.

LFL adviser N. Surendran praised the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government for its move to table an abolition of laws providing for the death penalty in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting, but said many citizens are awaiting execution in other countries, including just across the Causeway in Singapore, mainly for drug offences.

“At this moment, let us also not forget the many hundreds of Malaysians who are languishing on death row in foreign countries, particularly for being drug mules,” the lawyer said in a statement.

In July last year, S. Prabagaran was hanged in Singapore after he was convicted of drug trafficking, despite calls from the United Nations and others to suspend his execution.

“Having rejected the death penalty in this country, we now have the moral authority to fight for the lives of our citizens abroad,” Surendran said, adding that this must be a priority for the Foreign Ministry and Putrajaya.

The National Human Rights Society (Hakam) said today that the decision to abolish the death penalty infuses Malaysia’s criminal justice system with values that “upholds life and proves its love for its citizenry — no matter how and where and when they have gone wrong”.

Hakam president Gurdial Singh Nijar pointed out that the death penalty is irreversible, putting innocent lives at risk, and abolishing it would relieve judges and the State from deciding on someone’s life.

Gurdial also said that a life sentence with opportunity of parole would provide an opportunity for rehabilitation, and the funds now used for executions can better be used to help families of victims, especially those of the crime of murder.

However, Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) has warned Putrajaya against disappointing Malaysians in enacting the decision, hoping that the Bill will be tabled at least for the first reading at the next immediate session.

“Madpet hopes that MP and Senators from the Opposition parties will fully support the just move to abolish the death penalty,” said its spokesman Charles Hector.

Yesterday, de facto law minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong said while the government is studying certain cases, as of now, all executions have been halted.

It has been reported that a total of 1,267 prisoners are on death row, while 35 have been executed in the last decade.- Malay Mail, 11/10/2018

See also:-

MADPET welcomes Malaysian Cabinet Decision to Abolish the Death Penalty

MADPET – PH Government need make good promise to abolish ‘Mandatory Death by Hanging in all Acts’(statement issued on 10/10/2018, before the announcement of cabinet decision to abolish death penalty)

Minister: Putrajaya to abolish death penalty

Published 10 hours ago on 10 October 2018

By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, gives a speech during the ‘Law Reform Talk’ in Universiti Malaya October 10, 2018. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

PETALING JAYA, Oct 10 — The Cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and it will be tabled in the next Parliament sitting, which will begin on October 15, said Datuk Liew Vui Keong.

The minister in charge of law in the Prime Minister’s Department said while the government is studying certain cases, as of now, all executions have been halted.

“All death penalty will be abolished. Full stop.

“We are studying certain issues… we need to look into it and hear the views of all, but as it stands today, the decision is to abolish the death penalty,” he told the media after the “Law Reform Talk” at Universiti Malaya here, today.

Liew said that with Putrajaya intending to abolish the death penalty, the Pardons Board will be tasked with looking into the applications of death row inmates.

“Our view is that executions should not be carried out we will inform the Pardons Board to look into the various applications for all the death row inmates to either commute or release them.

“When commuted, they would have to face life imprisonment because there had been several deaths that were caused by the offender and so they were sentenced to death by the court,” he said.

Liew added that all the paperwork for the abolishment of the law is in its final stages, and that the Attorney General (AG) had given the green light for it to be tabled in Parliament.

“All the papers are in the final stage. The AG has also indicated to us that it is ready to be tabled, hopefully in this (Parliamentary) session,” he said.

Earlier in his opening speech, Liew said the Pakatan Harapan government is also mulling a repeal of the Sedition Act 1948 and other draconian laws. – Malay Mail, 10/10/2018

Malaysia’s new government should no longer delay abolition of death penalty — MADPET

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Malaysia’s new government should no longer delay abolition of death penalty — MADPET

 

Published 6 hours ago on 05 August 2018
AUG 5 — MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is disappointed that there is still no abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia after almost 3 months since the new Pakatan Harapan led government came into power.
The former UMNO-BN government did abolish the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking in 2017, but alas the delay of putting the new law in force for months resulted in at least 10 persons being sentenced to mandatory death penalty. Currently in Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for about 12 offences, while about 20 other offences are punishable by a discretionary death penalty. Many of these offences do not even result in grievous injury and/or death to victims.
It is MADPET’s hope that the new PH-led government will act justly, and expedite the abolition of the death penalty, especially the mandatory death penalty and not just procrastinate using lame reasons of further study and review as was the case with the past government. The greater the delay, more will be sentenced to death and may even continue to be executed in Malaysia. When in Opposition, many of the parties and their parliamentarians, who are now in the new government, were committed to the abolition of the death penalty. The time to walk the talk is now.
35 persons were executed in the last ten years(2007 – 2017), and 1,267 people on death row or 2.7% of the prison population of about 60,000 people, as revealed by deputy director (policy) of the Prisons Department, Supri Hashim recently(Star, 29/6/2018). Since the new government assumed power, there is to date no known executions, but reasonably many still may have been sentenced to death in the past months.
On 29/7/2018, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that government is looking into the need to make amendments to do away with the mandatory death penalty in legislation pertaining to criminal offences.(Malay Mail, 29/6/2018)
Mandatory death penalty removes the ability of judges to impose the most just and appropriate sentence, as Parliament by law forces them to impose just the one sentence of death once a person is convicted of the relevant crime.
Mandatory death penalty is undemocratic
In a democracy, there are 3 branches of government – the Executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet), the Judiciary and the Legislative(Parliament). Besides serving as a check and balance to the other 2 branches, each branch of government also do have specific functions.
The mandatory sentence including the death penalty, is really is a trespass by the Legislature into what must be the duties/functions of the Judiciary. We should really trust the Judiciary in Malaysia to provide every person with the right to a fair trial, including also the ability to impose the appropriate just sentence, after considering all factors, including points submitted in mitigations and arguments for a harsher sentence.
Mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional
The existence of the mandatory death penalty may be unconstitutional, which was also the recent finding of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Barbados’s highest court, on 27/6/2018, which struck down the mandatory death penalty on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. Amongst others, it said that ‘ the Constitution, which gives the right to protection of the law, was enforceable, and that the mandatory death penalty breached that right as it deprived a court of the opportunity to exercise the quintessential judicial function of tailoring the punishment to fit the crime ’. One of the judges also stated ‘ that the judicial monopoly on the power to sentence, which is protected by the separation of powers principle, is consistent with “ensuring respect for, and adherence to, the ongoing evolution in the protection of human rights”. (Caribean360, 27/6/2018)
Our Malaysian Constitution has similar provisions with Barbados, and is also a democracy.
In a criminal trial, after conviction, the accused have the right to raise mitigating factors for the courts to consider when deciding on a just sentence. When an offence provides for a mandatory sentence, the convicted person is denied this fundamental right, and as such, it may be said that he/she is denied the guaranteed ‘equal protection of the law’ and the right to a just sentence.
Death penalty in malaysia not in accordance with islam must be abolished
Whilst, some Muslims have supported the death penalty on the basis that it is provided for in their religious teachings and/or faith, it must be pointed out that in Malaysia, all the offences that provide for the death penalty are not offences under the Islamic/Syariah law.  In Islam, there are also strict criminal procedural and evidential requirements that need to be fulfilled, which arguably is not fulfilled in Malaysia’s present administration of criminal justice system that now allows for the death penalty. As such, the argument that Malaysia should retain the death penalty because Islam allows for it is weak, and possibly even baseless or flawed.
Being a caring nation, Malaysia needs to do justice to all – including also emphasizing on repentance and second chances rather than simply effecting revenge, punishment and even death. It must be noted, that Malaysia, may also be partially responsible for its failings of government to provide for the well-being and welfare of its people, may have been a factor that pushed many a poor persons to resort to crime for the survival and livelihood of themselves and their families.
Therefore, Muslim politicians and parties, in government or otherwise, should justly not resist the abolition of death penalty, for fear of losing the support of Muslim Malaysian voters.
Death penalty not in the ‘best interest’ of a child
Malaysia, having ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1995, must uphold its commitment to the protection and well-being of children. The execution of a father/mother/sibling/relative of a child is really not in the ‘best interest of the child’.
This concern for the child is already reflected even in our present Malaysian criminal laws, where a pregnant woman will not be sentenced to death, not when she is pregnant nor even many years after she had given birth.  The underlying value and principle could only be our concern for the child and the importance of a living parent to a child’s wellbeing.  This care and concern now needs to be expanded by the abolition of the death penalty.
When other co-perpetrators not yet arrested, tried or brought to justice
There is suspicion that in the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case, there may be others involved besides the 2 who have been convicted and now sentenced to mandatory death penalty. The two, Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, were at the time of the said murder part of former Prime Minister Najib’s personal security detail.
This may be the case also for many other murders and death penalty crimes, especially those cases where the prosecution in the charge sheet clearly stated that the crime was done together with others not named, and in other such cases where involvement of third parties are evident or suspected. If the convicted are executed, it is becomes all the more unlikely that these other perpetrators of crime may never be identified, arrested and brought to justice.
Now, Malaysia is considering the abolition of the death penalty with the hope that the convicted and those sentenced to death, will cooperate in making sure other perpetrators are also brought to justice – this is an additional reason for the abolition of the death penalty. It will surely make it more probable to bring to justice those in the shadows, including those who may have ordered or facilitated such murders and crimes.
In Japan, it was customary that the convicted were not executed until all those involved were brought to justice. In Malaysia, sadly this may not be the case.
Even in cases that the prosecution knows there are others still at large, as an example in the case of Gunasegar Pitchaymuthu(35), Ramesh Jayakumar(34), and  Sasivarnam Jayakumar(37) who were executed for murder in March 2016. The charge levied against the 3 stated clearly that the murder was committed with ‘one other still at large’. Now that the 3 have been executed, that ‘one other still at large’ would most probably never be brought to justice, more so since crucial witnesses being the accomplices are now dead. Justice may not be done.
Everyone would want all perpetrators of crimes, including the ‘big bosses’, ‘kingpins’ and others that ordered or assisted in the crime  to be brought to justice.  Hence, the execution of possible ‘whistle blowers’ and crucial witnesses prior to the arrest and trial of all other perpetrators is foolish, and certainly yet another reason for the abolition of the death penalty.
Now, if there is no mandatory death penalty, better still no death penalty, it is more likely that the convicted, especially after they had been unsuccessful in their final appeal, to reveal information needed to bring other remaining perpetrators to justice possibly with an assurance that there will be reduction in their own sentences. A person, who is guilty of murder or any crime, is likely not to reveal any information about the involvement of others until after their final appeal – for any earlier disclosure will not help them in their own trial, and will more likely result in their own conviction.
Commute death sentence rather than simply delaying executions
Dr Wan Azizah  was reported saying that “The last Cabinet meeting resolved to implement the government decision to defer the death penalty imposed on 17 people convicted of drug offences .” (Malay Mail, 29/6/2018). This only means that their execution has been delayed. It should just be commuted to imprisonment
With regards to the offence of drug trafficking, all those on death row, especially the at least 10 persons who were sentenced to death, simply because of the then Barisan Nasional’s Minister’s procrastination in putting the law into force by several months, should really now have their death penalty commuted to imprisonment.
In fact, it is just that all those on death row for drug trafficking should have their death sentence commuted to imprisonment.
Historic success of ousting umno-led government celebrated with commutation of death sentence?
Given the historic success at the last General Elections on 10/5/2018, which saw Malaysians ousting the UMNO-led coalition who had been government since independence on 31/8/1957, it may be the best time to celebrate by having the death sentence of all on death row at this time be commuted to imprisonment possibly on the occasion of the upcoming Merdeka celebration at the end of this month on 31/8/2018.
There are many reasons why the death penalty needs to be abolished. It certainly does not serve as a deterrent, as in Malaysia itself, it has been previously revealed in Parliament that there was an increase of drug trafficking despite the existence of the mandatory death penalty.
The police, prosecution and the courts are certainly not infallible, and innocent people can sometimes wrongly be found guilty and even sentenced to death. This risk of miscarriage of justice itself is sufficient reason for the abolition of the death penalty.
The call for the abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia has been made for far too long by civil society, Malaysian Bar, Parliamentarians and many others. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has also recently called on this new government to not delay in abolition of death penalty,(2/7/2018, Bernama-Malay Mail)
MADPET calls on the new Malaysian government to forthwith impose a moratorium on all executions pending the abolition of the death penalty.
MADPET calls on the Malaysian government to immediately commute the death sentence of all on death row, especially those on death row by reason of being sentenced to death for drug trafficking, when that offence still carried the mandatory death penalty.
MADPET calls for the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and all other mandatory sentences, and restore to the Judiciary the power to decide on the most appropriate and just sentence for each case. Parliament should maybe simply stipulate maximum and/or minimum sentences, and return to the Judiciary ‘the judicial monopoly on the power to sentence’ as should be the case in a true Democracy.