Malaysia Drops Mandatory Death Penalty For 11 Crimes

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian lawmakers on Monday passed bills to repeal the mandatory death penalty and abolish life imprisonment, as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government puts in place legal and institutional reforms.

The bills, tabled to parliament last week, will remove the mandatory death penalty on 11 offenses, including kidnapping and drug trafficking, and give discretionary powers to courts in offenses that result in death. They will also replace life sentences with imprisonment of 30 to 40 years plus whipping of at least 12 strokes.

"This is a considerably big development in the criminal justice system," Ramkarpal Singh, deputy minister in charge of law and institutional reform in the Prime Minister's Department, told reporters at a press conference after the vote.

"The work on the reforms on Malaysia's criminal justice system is in parallel with the universal human rights standards. These amendments are the early steps to reform our criminal justice system," he said.

There are 1,324 prisoners on death row, including 484 foreigners, according to the Prisons Department of Malaysia. Of that total, 476 cases are still under review, while 840 have already been sentenced to death.

In tandem with the shift, a new law will give powers to the Federal Court to review the 840 prisoners on death row. If the bill is passed, it will enable prisoners to submit a request for review within 90 days. This new law is also applicable to 117 prisoners who are serving life imprisonment terms.

The repeal of the mandatory death penalty had been put forward by nongovernmental organizations. In addition, a 2022 survey by local think tank The Center showed under 20% of respondents supported the death penalty for drug offenses.

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