Malaysia says it will end death penalty for all crimes

[S.J.B.]

Malaysia says it will end death penalty for all crimes
The Sydney Morning Herald
October 12th, 2018

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's new government said it would abolish the death penalty for all crimes and halt all pending executions, a rare move against capital punishment in Asia that human rights groups hailed as a major advance.

More than 1200 people, including Sydney grandmother Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, are on death row in Malaysia, which mandates hanging as punishment for a wide range of crimes including murder, drug trafficking, treason, kidnapping and acts of terror.

Law Minister Liew Vui Keong announced on Wednesday that the Cabinet had agreed to abolish the death penalty and that amendments to laws with capital punishment were expected to be presented when Parliament resumes Monday, local media reported. Liew couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

Communications Minister Gobind Singh Deo on Thursday confirmed the Cabinet's decision.

"This is part of our election pledge and also in line with the move away from capital punishment in the rest of the world," he said.

Read the full story here.

 

[SheWasLvL18]

Wow I would never have expected this, but I think it's great they chose not to execute anymore people.

“Criminals do not die by the hands of the law. They die by the hands of other men.”

- George Bernard Shaw

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Ugh. This and Washington state.

 

[neversickanymore]

Now that's commendable.

 

[cj]

I have a feeling the bad press was finally starting to hurt Australian tourism.

 

[Mycophile]

Wow that's amazing news if true and I really hope they do stop giving people the death penalty, especially for drug use.

Ever since I saw Return to Paradise years ago where they put Joachim Phoenix's character to death for Hash I have hated that part of the world and their drug laws (also Indonesia and The Phillipines) and said there's no way I'd go there and that they are an incredibly inhumane country.

That's surprisingly good news if true.

 

[imma bee]

I hope this is true. The death penalty for drugs is so grotesque. It defies the reality that drug misuse and abuse is a medical problem that requires treatment, as opposed to incarceration - or in this case, death.