“Important step”: Malaysia abolishes mandatory death penalty

Malaysia is abolishing the mandatory death penalty for certain crimes. After the Chamber of Deputies (Dewan Rakyat) approved the reform a week ago, the Senate (Dewan Negara) also voted in favor on Tuesday, the Malaysian news agency Bernama reports. Now the king must sign the new law. Human rights activists celebrated the new judicial rules as an “important step”, but called for the full abolition of the death penalty in the Southeast Asian country as soon as possible.

Previously, death sentences were mandatory for murder, drug trafficking, terrorism and kidnapping, among other things. Thanks to the reform, judges are now free to impose alternative sentences, such as 30 to 40 years in prison and caning.

Abolishing the mandatory death penalty brings Malaysia closer to most countries that have completely abolished the death penalty, said Elaine Pearson, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “Malaysia’s next step should be to stop the punishment completely.” In a tweet, Amnesty International called on the government in Kuala Lumpur to “take further steps towards a more humane criminal justice system”.

In Malaysia, the death penalty has so far been applied to 33 crimes, of which 11 have had to be imposed. However, the country introduced an official moratorium on executions in 2018, which Amnesty International says has been observed. The majority of the approximately 1,300 people on death row have been convicted of drug offenses. (sda/dpa)