38 more sentenced to death last year, says Amnesty International

Global rights group Amnesty International revealed that at least 38 new death sentences were reported in Malaysia last year.

Its Malaysia executive director, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, pointed out that 20 out of the 38 cases were drug-related, while the remaining 18 were for murder.

“Malaysian drug laws are considered some of the harshest in the world, with no mercy policy applied towards drug convicts applying for clemency until the early 1990s,” she said while presenting the group’s global report entitled “Death Sentences and Executions 2023” today.

Katrina revealed that up until Feb 14 this year, a total of 1,078 inmates were sentenced to death. Of this number, 641 inmates are Malaysians while 437 are foreigners.

Of the 1,078 inmates, 906 have applied for a pardon and as of Sept 12 last year, 29 have been ordered to continue their sentencing. This means 877 inmates, or 96.8 percent, are still waiting for the decision on their application.

However, there is no data on the nationality of the foreign inmates.

Sentencing at judges’ discretion

The Dewan Rakyat passed the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in April last year, removing the mandatory death penalty for 12 offences including drug trafficking, murder, treason, and terrorism.

However, this does not mean the death penalty is eliminated. Instead, it allows judges to use their discretion in imposing proportionate penalties for the crimes committed up to and including the death penalty where necessary.

The resentencing process that started last year allows the Federal Court to review mandatory death sentences for people who have gone through the regular legal process.

The implementation has led to a significant reduction in upheld death sentences.

In March 2024, official numbers shared in Parliament showed that the Federal Court upheld the death penalty in only 12 out of 134 cases reviewed since November 2023. All the upheld death sentences were for murder.

As recorded in Amnesty International monitoring during the first six months of judicial sentencing discretion, the death penalty was imposed in an alarming 44 percent of recorded cases before the high courts.

This percentage was reduced to 21 percent before the Court of Appeal and 25 percent before the Federal Court.

Call for transparency

With Malaysia remaining among the minority of countries that retain the death penalty, Amnesty International reiterated its concern regarding the lack of transparency in its use, including the opaque and secretive pardon process.

As the pardon process is the last resource available to prisoners on death row, the group said it has aggravated the mental trauma of the prisoners and their families.

Katrina said the group had repeatedly requested comprehensive data on death row inmates from various ministries and departments but has yet to receive any replies.

“The pardon process is very secretive. (We want to know) what state it is being processed in, the actions taken, and the basis of those actions. These need to be transparent,” she said.

She added that while the data is available through Parliamentary answers and media reports, it should also be accessible on the related departments’ or ministry’s websites and available for public viewing.

Moratorium hangs over inmates

In July 2018, the government imposed a nationwide moratorium on executions. While Malaysian courts continued to sentence people to death, no executions have taken place since the moratorium began.

The organisation highlighted that with individuals still on death row, the risk of lifting the moratorium could not be underestimated.

With the upcoming 79th United Nations General Assembly session scheduled for later this year, the group hopes Malaysia will renew its commitment to human rights.

Sugarcane seller's death sentence commuted to 40 years in jail

Navy cadet's death 'rarest of the rare', accused deserve death sentence: DPP

Malaysia's freedom of expression further stifled – Amnesty report

Ex-prisoners vow to use second chance to right wrongs

Court commutes man’s death sentence to 38 years in jail for murder

Man escapes gallows for murdering stepson, gets 35 years in jail