The Malaysian Parliament on Monday approved the abolition of the hitherto automatic mandatory death penalty. eleven crimesa heavy-handed countermeasure reform against drug trafficking in other countries in the region, including drug trafficking.
Kuala Lumpur’s lower house by a majority in favor of reform of the penal code, This is after more than a decade of steps in this direction and the country declared a moratorium on executions in 2018, but death sentences continue to be enforced.
According to Amnesty International, there are currently 1,337 death row prisoners in Malaysia who can request a reconsideration of their sentences. 67.5% of them were convicted of drug traffickingmurder, terrorism, kidnapping or possession of a weapon is among the eleven offenses so far punishable by the death penalty.
Instead of the death penalty, up to 40 years in prison For these eleven offenses he has hitherto been punished by hanging.
Ramkarpal Singh, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs and Institutional Reforms, assured that reform is “important” since the death penalty”It is irreversible and did not bring the expected results”According to the news of the Free Malaysia Today newspaper, he spoke in the Parliament today.
Again, capital punishment can still be applied in Malaysia if decided by a judge.
Last June, the then Minister of Justice, Wan Junaidi, It has already announced that the government is working on alternative sentences to the death penalty.
In Southeast Asia, with the exception of Malaysia, the death penalty continues to be in effect for some crimes. Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand Vietnam, places where executions are carried out by hanging, shooting or by needles.
Also, Burma’s (Myanmar) military junta, which has not implemented the death penalty for three decades, executed four pro-democracy activists last July. “terror activities”.
In particular, some of these countries take a particularly harsh approach to drug trafficking. Neighboring Singapore, the most developed country in Southeast Asia, at least ten prisoners were executed last yearor – by hanging – an unprecedented speed of drug trafficking, prompting criticism from the UN.