COMMENT | Abolition of mandatory death penalty: Govt not being soft on crime

COMMENT | Yesterday, I watched in gratitude and awe as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said and her deputy Ramkarpal Singh tabled the first reading of the amendments to abolish the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia.

I have been lobbying and campaigning for 10 years to see Malaysia free from the death penalty and this is certainly having one foot in the door.

The death penalty in Malaysia is a colonial law and our colonial masters have long abolished it in the United Kingdom.

In Malaysia, there are 33 various offences that carry the death penalty, of which 11 are mandatory - two from the Firearms Act and nine from the Penal Code, which means the hands of the judges and courts are tied and no other punishment is meted out.

As of yesterday, there are 1,318 people on death row in Malaysia - the highest being for drug trafficking at 870, murder at 418, discharge of firearms at 10, seven for waging war against the Agong, six for being an accomplice in the discharge of firearms, five for kidnapping and two for gang robberies.

I have been reading reactionary comments on social media on the government’s step to abolish the mandatory death penalty and realised how little Malaysians know about the death penalty here, and this is understandable because it is a rather large subject and covers many aspects and not just the death penalty alone but has not been discussed in the manner that it should.

Many have opined that the abolition of the mandatory death penalty meant that the government has gone soft on crime and now criminals will be set free, out and about amongst us. Some mentioned the cost of keeping the inmates in prison and that it would be easier to just execute them.

This is absolutely false.

If a person is guilty of committing a crime, they must be punished and there are no two ways about it - but not at the cost of using the death penalty.

This amendment will minimise the grave risk of a miscarriage of justice when judges are given discretionary powers in deciding to give the death penalty or not.

The death penalty is still here to stay - the difference is that the court will decide whether to use it or not. In this aspect, it is not true that the government is soft on crime.

Many are not aware that the last execution in Malaysia took place in 2017 and no one has been executed since then and this has not changed the crime graph in the country.

Double standards

It is a known fact, in Malaysia and in many countries, of the double standard treatment of those who have committed crimes, even petty ones.

A mother stealing Milo or a father stealing petai for their hungry families are usually dealt with swiftly by the long arm of the law but many a time, the powerful, privileged and highly connected are often let off with a sentence that doesn’t match the crime.

Whilst no criminal justice system is perfect, we must do our best to minimise the risk of a miscarriage of justice and imagine the scenario when the death penalty is used.

The death penalty is not merely about executing people but also about improving current efforts and practices we have in place today. The government must also invest in fighting crime and not merely end lives.

There must also be a serious and vested interest in prison reforms in the country, and an overall approach to rehabilitative and restorative justice away from punitive alone.

Of course, the approach by the Attorney-General’s Chambers must also be in line with the government's move to abolish the mandatory death penalty. It must include a mindset shift accompanied by cultural changes within the walls of the AGC.

Amongst Asean countries, only Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines had voted yes on the Ninth UN Resolution on a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2022. Brunei and Singapore voted against it and the rest of the Asean member states, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam abstained from voting.

In addition to that, this move to abolish the mandatory death penalty is also in line with Malaysia as a member of the UN Human Rights Council and shows its commitment to be a torch bearer for human rights and human rights for all.

I look forward to a healthy, salient debate on the amendment in Parliament on April 3 and wish to see the Dewan Rakyat debate and exchange ideas and constructive suggestions on the government's move to abolish the mandatory death penalty.

After all, when Perikatan Nasional was in power last year, then-minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar tabled the first reading to amend the mandatory death penalty on Oct 6 but it lapsed with the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10, and it has been re-tabled now by the new Malaysia Madani government.

KASTHURI PATTO is DAP deputy secretary for international affairs and former MP.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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