Malaysia's Cabinet wants to end death penalty for murder and over 30 other offences

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's Cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty for 33 offences as provided for under eight Acts of law, including Section 302 of the Penal Code which pertains to murder, reported national news wire Bernama.

The report quoted Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong, who said in parliament on Tuesday (Nov 13) that the collective decision would also extend to the death penalty provided for under laws on firearms, kidnapping and drugs, for example.

"Following the Cabinet decision, a Cabinet memorandum has been circulated to the relevant ministries for their comments and to get public feedback on it," Datuk Liew was quoted in saying in response to a question by Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, a Pakatan Harapan Member of Parliament from Bandar Kuching.

Datuk Liew’s comments came a day after Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told reporters that the government was still considering whether to abolish the death penalty or retain it.

She had said that the government wanted to prevent innocent people from being wrongly sentenced to death. There were also calls to abolish the death penalty as it was not seen as an effective deterrent to crime, she noted. "However, there are people who commit the most unthinkable and heinous crimes,” she said.