It is "mischievous" of MCA incumbent deputy president Wee Ka Siong to link the government's attempt to abolish the death penalty with the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, says Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) adviser N Surendran.

"His opposition to the abolition is groundless, opportunistic and smacks of sheer hypocrisy," the lawyer said in a statement today.

Surendran was responding to Wee who questioned yesterday whether the government's "hastiness" to abolish the death penalty is to allow the extradition of Altantuya's killer Sirul Azhar Umar from Australia. Since the country does not support the death penalty, Australia has refused to comply.

Wee had said the government should at least allow a parliamentary select committee to vet the proposal first. 

To this, Surendran questioned whether Wee (photo) or MCA had demanded the formation of a similar committee when the BN government rushed to pass Anti-Fake News Act 2018 (AFN).

"On the contrary, they kept silent and even voted for AFN, toeing the line of their Umno bosses.

"But when Pakatan Harapan wishes to abolish the death penalty, in a move consistent with universal human rights and international standards, the MCA tries to block it by demanding a select committee," his statement read.

'Is the answer to hang them all?'

According to Surendran, there is no empirical or statistical evidence that the death penalty acts as an effective deterrent against serious crime.

"No number of select committees set up by the Dewan Rakyat is going to prove the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

"This sudden demand for a select committee is nothing more than a transparent attempt to stall the abolition of the death penalty.

Surendran added that the move is the culmination of a decades-long movement against the death penalty in Malaysia, and urged Putrajaya to not let anything stand in the way of abolishment.

"Do Wee and MCA realise that human lives are at stake here? Some of those on death row may be innocent or wrongly convicted, some are mere desperate drug mules, and many of them can be rehabilitated.

"Is the MCA and BN's solution just to hang them all?" 

"The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights, it has no place in the laws of any civilised nation."