Before it was mandatory for 11 serious crimes, but now its application will be at the discretion of the judge, who may replace it with flogging or 40 years in prison. So far, the law has only passed in one of the two parliamentary chambers, but according to commentators it will have no problem getting the king’s signature. Capital punishment had been suspended in 2018. More than 1,300 detainees on death row could be saved.
Kuala Lumpur ( / Agencies) – The Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Malaysian Parliament, voted in favor of a reform to abolish the mandatory death penalty and life imprisonment for certain crimes. The legislation will now go to the Dewan Negara, the other House, and if it passes – as experts expect – it will be sent to the king for signature and then become law.
Thanks to the new legislation, more than 1,300 inmates on death row could be released from the gallows if they file a request for review of their case within 90 days of it taking effect.
Malaysia had applied a moratorium on executions in 2018, when it first announced that it wanted to abolish the death penalty. However, the government later backed down after pressure from some parties.
Instead, under the amendments approved today, it will be up to each judge to replace the death penalty with other punishments, such as flogging and prison terms of up to 40 years.
Capital punishment is applicable to 34 crimes, including 11 that considered it mandatory, such as drug trafficking, homicide, and crimes of terrorism.
“The death penalty has not delivered what it was supposed to,” said Deputy Minister Ramkarpal Singh during the parliamentary debate on the bill.
Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, called the vote an “important development for Malaysia,” which should guide “regional leadership by encouraging other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) governments to rethink the use continued that they make of the death penalty”.
Last year, Singapore executed 11 people for drug offences, while the coup junta in Burma, where a civil conflict is raging, last year reintroduced the death penalty for four pro-democracy activists.
According to official data, 1,318 prisoners were hanged in Malaysia between 1992 and 2023.
