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Friday, March 24, 2017

Cabinet praised for move to review death penalty



Putrajaya has received praise for the cabinet decision to review the death penalty and reinstate discretionary sentencing by judges for drug-related offences.
"@YBAOS63 - syabas (good job) on cabinet's decision to review mandatory death sentence for drug offences & reinstate judges’ discretion in sentencing," Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen tweeted to YBAOS63, the Twitter account of de facto Law Minister Azalina Othman Said.
However, Paulsen argued, the proposal, which is limited to drug offences, should be extended to all death penalty offences, including murder, kidnapping, firearms and others.
"Judges are in the best position to exercise discretion on the appropriate sentence for each individual case, depending on the facts.
"Judicial discretion in sentencing is an essential aspect of judicial power under our legal system. Judges are not automatons," he tweeted further.
To force the judiciary to impose the death sentence, Paulsen said, is an unnecessary fetter on their discretion and interferes with their independence.
In any case, he added, no cogent empirical evidence shows that the death penalty is a more effective deterrent to crime, than long-term imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong also welcomed Putrajaya's announcement to review the mandatory death sentence, though he additionally called for a moratorium on executions pending the bill to amend the necessary laws.
"I welcome the announcement as a step in the right direction in our longstanding fight to abolish the death penalty," Liew said in a statement.
He recounted how this was the culmination of a previous bipartisan parliamentary roundtable on abolition of the death penalty in 2011, in which he was involved.
"Azalina's announcement yesterday is good progress and I hope to see the actual amendments expedited under her tenure," he added.
However, Liew noted that Azalina had stopped short of declaring a moratorium on executions, and he urged the government to stay all executions pending the review.
"As we have stated many times, the irreversible nature of the death penalty, the human cost and its ineffectiveness to deter crime warrant serious review," he said.

Yesterday, Azalina announced in Parliament that the government had agreed to the proposal to repeal the mandatory death sentence for drug offences.
In her announcement, Azalina said attorney-general Apandi Ali was consulted by the cabinet, which had agreed to review Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, to allow judges discretion to decide on the penalty for drug offences.
The situations, she had said, include those who are tricked or forced into being drug mules.- Mkini

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