Malaysia puts an end to mandatory death penalty for 11 serious crimes

 

The Malaysian parliament voted to remove the country’s mandatory capital punishment for 11 serious offenses, potentially easing sentences for approximately 1,341 prisoners on death row. 

Although Malaysia has had a moratorium on executions for over four years, judges will now have discretion to impose the death penalty in exceptional cases, and life imprisonment sentences of up to 40 years will be handed down for the most serious crimes. 

The reforms, which still need to pass Malaysia’s upper house, are widely expected to do so. The country’s Deputy Law Minister stated that capital punishment did not achieve its intended results. 

There are currently more than 1,300 prisoners on death row in Malaysia, over 60% of whom had received the mandatory death penalty. 

Human Rights Watch expects the reform to influence similar situations in neighboring countries.