Malaysia's parliament vote to remove mandatory death penalty for serious crimes

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's parliament has voted to remove the country's mandatory death penalty, potentially sparing more than 1,300 prisoners on death row. The country has had a moratorium on executions since 2018. But the abolition now removes the death penalty as the mandatory sentence for 11 serious crimes, including murder and terrorism. Judges have retained discretion to impose capital punishment in exceptional cases.

Lawmakers said, but for the most serious crimes, the courts will now favour life imprisonment sentences of up to 40 years or corporal punishment such as caning.

Speaking in parliament on Monday, Malaysia's deputy law minister



Ramkarpal Singh said capital punishment has not brought the results it was intended to bring.

The reform still needs to clear the country's upper house but it is widely expected to pass.

The new laws will apply retrospectively, allowing those on death row 90 days to seek a review of their sentences. There are currently 1,341 such prisoners in the country.

The legislative process of overturning the country's death penalty began last June when the former Malaysian government under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced it would abolish the death penalty as a mandatory punishment.