Govt Wants to Abolish Mandatory Death Penalty for 11 Offences & Let The Court Decide

There have been news that the death penalty in Malaysia will be abolished and lawmakers who are both for and against the motion have made their opinions heard. Meanwhile, citizens are also divided against this issue as the Parliament decides whether this motion will be passed.

Source: fmt

According to Malay Mail, a decision has finally been reached and just today (March 13), the Dewan Rakyat was told that the mandatory death penalty for 11 criminal offences will be abolished. However, this doesn’t mean that capital punishment is no longer in Malaysia but instead, the court will hold the power and decide whether they will hand out the death sentence to the convicted criminals. Means the judges can choose!

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said that this decision will affect nine offences under the Penal Code and two under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971.

Source: groundviews

The Star reports that these offences under the Penal Code are:

• Section 121A (Offences against the person of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Ruler or Yang Di-Pertua Negeri)
• Section 130C (Committing terrorist acts)
• Section 130I (Directing activities of terrorists groups)
• Section 130N (Providing or collecting property for terrorist acts)
• Section 130 O (Providing services for terrorist purposes)
• Section 130 QA (Accepting gratification to facilitate or enable terrorists acts)
• Section 130 ZB (Accepting gratification to facilitate or enable organised criminal activity)
• Section 302 (Punishment for murder) and Section 374A (hostage-taking)

While the two offences under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act are:

• Section 3 (Penalty for discharging a firearm in the commission of a scheduled offence)
• Section 3A (Penalty for accomplices in case of discharge of firearm)

For illustration purposes only | source: death penalty news

“We have made a decision. The government will only repeal the mandatory death penalty. We will make the amendments. This is in keeping with the 27th pledge in the Pakatan Harapan (election) manifesto,” he replied when Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (PAS-Tumpat) asked a question during the session.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said that the abolition is still a work in progress but this decision is a middle ground between the three options they had suggested to the government previously. “We are expecting it to be tabled in this session whereby we are still waiting for the government to look into the three options we have,” he said.

Previously, all death penalties have been put on hold after the Cabinet said that they were deciding on this issue and studying some cases.

What do you think if this amendment goes forward instead?

Also read: There May No Longer Be Death Penalty in M’sia as PMO Has Decided to Abolish It