KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 – The 2,000 prisoners currently on the death row in Malaysia will know their final fate tomorrow, Monday, June 13, following the government’s recent decision to abolish the mandatory death sentence, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said.
Utusan Malaysia today reported him saying that he will be holding a press conference on Monday to explain the status of the prisoners, whose death sentences were put on a moratorium when the ruling government in 2018, Pakatan Harapan, decided to review the role of death sentence as a form of reform in the country’s criminal justice system.
The Malaysian government on Friday announced that it is abolishing the mandatory death sentence and will be looking at replacing the sentence to be decided at the discretion of the court.
Wan Junaidi said a study will be carried out to substitute the death sentence for the 11 offences that fall under the penalty including one on the possession and trafficking of drugs under section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 .
Many parties commended the government’s move, saying it was in the right direction including local human rights organisations, activists and the European Union.
–WE