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Agence France-Presse

The Malaysian government was accused on Wednesday of a “shocking” U-turn on plans to abolish capital punishment after a senior official said only the mandatory death penalty would be axed.
A reformist alliance which stormed to power last year announced in October that it had decided to scrap capital punishment entirely, a move that would have handed a reprieve to more than 1,200 people on death row.

Executions are currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes.
The decision to axe capital punishment, carried out by hanging in Malaysia, had sparked opposition from murder victims’ families and opposition politicians, however.
Malaysian government agrees to abolish death penalty
Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, a deputy minister in the prime minister’s department, told parliament about the change of plan.
“We have made a decision. The government will only repeal the mandatory death penalty,” he was cited as saying by official news agency Bernama.
This means it will be at a judge’s discretion whether to order someone to hang or send them to jail for offences where a death sentence is currently mandatory.

Any change to the law must be approved by parliament and there is still a chance the government may change its plans, or their proposal could be defeated.
Legal reform group Lawyers for Liberty accused the government of making a “complete U-turn”.
“The reversal of the earlier decision is shocking, unprincipled and embarrassing,” said the group’s N. Surendran in a statement.
“To hold out hope of being spared the gallows, only to have the hope snatched away again is extremely cruel and unjust.”
Japan’s death penalty, a cruel and unusually popular punishment
Amnesty International described the announcement as “disappointing”, adding the government “appears to have bowed to political and public pressure to retain the death penalty”.
“The government must reconsider,” said Amnesty’s Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu.
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”
The move could have implications for a major scandal involving the murder of a Mongolian model that has been linked to the country’s ex-leader Najib Razak.

Malaysia wants to extradite from Australia former policeman Sirul Azhar Umar, who was sentenced to hang over the model’s death and has maintained he was ordered by “important people” to commit the murder.
But Canberra’s policy is not to send people back to countries where they may face death. Najib has long been implicated in the model’s killing, but denies the claim.


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Malaysia

Malaysia accused of U-turn on death penalty abolition

Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Photo: AFP

RNPS - REUTERS NEWS PICTURE SERVICE - PICTURES OF THE YEAR 2014 A supporter of the English Defence League with a tattoo on his head stands by a replica hangman's noose and gallows during a protest outside the Old Bailey courthouse in London, in this February 26, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW MILITARY CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 10, 2018 shows former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate Mahathir Mohamad (C) celebrates with other leaders of his coalition during a press conference following the 14th general elections in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia had been a loyal partner in China's globe-spanning infrastructure drive but a new government is now pledging to review Beijing-backed projects, threatening key links in the much-vaunted initiative. / AFP PHOTO / Manan VATSYAYANA / TO GO WITH AFP STORY: Malaysia-China-investments-politics-diplomacy, FOCUS by Sam REEVES

Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibu (left) and Sirul Azhar Umar. Photos: Interpol, EPA

Malaysian government agrees to abolish death penalty in move hailed by rights campaigners

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose government has agreed to abolish the death penalty. Photo: AP

epa06952102 Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong (C), who was detained in connection with the death of Kim Jong-Nam, escorted by Malaysian police officers out of the Shah Alam High Court in Shah Alam, Malaysia, 16 August 2018. Kim Jong Nam murder trial continued after Malaysia court found sufficient evidence against the two suspects. Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam and Siti Aisyah from Indonesia were charged with murder under Section 302 of the penal code, which carries mandatory death sentence if found guilty. Both pleaded not guilty during the murder trial. EPA-EFE/FAZRY ISMAIL

Japan’s death penalty, a cruel and unusually popular punishment

Former prisoner guard Toshio Sakamoto. Photo: AFP

FILE - This Aug. 27, 2010 file shows the main gallows of the Tokyo Detention Center in Tokyo. Thirteen Japanese cult members may be sent to the gallows any day now for a deadly 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and other crimes. Or they might not. Such is the secrecy that surrounds Japan's death penalty system. Tuesday, March 20, 2018 marks 23 years since members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult punctured plastic bags to release sarin nerve gas inside subway cars, sickening thousands and killing 13. Cult leader Shoko Asahara and a dozen followers have been sentenced to death for that and other crimes that killed 27 in all. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

epa06910757 (FILE) - An undated copy of a photo belonging to a Aum cult member shows cult leader Shoko Asahara (C, back) with his wife Tomoko (L, front) and daughter Archery (C, front) along with inner group of disciples at an unknown location (reissued 26 July 2018). According to media reports on 26 July 2018, Japanese authorities executed the remaining six members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, the perpetrators of a deadly Sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. Cult leader Sohoko Asahara and seven other members of Aum Shinrikyo were executed on 06 July 2018. The cult members released the Nazi-invented Sarin nerve gas in Tokyo's subway in 1995, killing 12 people and injuring thousands of others. EPA-EFE/HO

A police officer warns activists to leave during an anti death penalty protest in front of the US Supreme Court January 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski

CORRECTION - This picture taken on August 1, 2018 shows Toshio Sakamoto, who worked as a prison guard for 27 years, posing for a photograph in the Kokubunji area of western Tokyo. - Death row inmates in Japan are executed not by professionals but by ordinary prison staff who may have guarded the condemned for months or even years, something opponents say is devastating for both criminals and guards. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP) / To go with AFP story Japan-justice-execution, Focus by Miwa Suzuki / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Martin BUREAU has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [CORRECTS SECOND ENTENCE]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liabi

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The current administration had announced in October that it would scrap capital punishment entirely, but the decision sparked opposition
Executions are currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes


Executions are currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes


Crime

Malaysia accused of U-turn on death penalty abolition

.css-jfmysa{display:inline;word-break:break-word;}.css-1ankfgb{cursor:pointer;display:inline;word-break:break-word;}Malaysian government agrees to abolish death penalty

Malaysian government agrees to abolish death penalty