Death penalty in Malaysia is very alive in today’s justice system Death penalty or capital punishment in certain laws are mandatory sentence. This usually involves drug cases, illegal possession of firearms, and murdert According to Section 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the only execution method is by hanging by the neck until death However pregnant woman and minor below the age of majority may not be sentenced Death penalty is governed under three statutes, about eleven sections, as for Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, it is Section 398 and Kidnapping Act 1961, section 3. Previously, in Section 57 of the Internal Security Act 1960 for possession of firearms, however, this law is since abolish in 2012 and replaced by the Prevention of Crime Act 2013. This new law does not mention the death penalty. The only time Section 121 of the Penal Code is used was for the Al Ma’unah case, where a group of militant Persaudaraan limu Dalam Al-Ma’unah (Brotherhood of Al-Ma’unah Inner Power) raided the 304‘” Malaysian Army Reserve camp this unfortunate event is later known as the Sauk Siege.
The leader of the militant group, Al Ma’unah, Mohamed Amin Mohamed Razali was hanged on August 2006 under this act.‘ He was the first person to be charged and convicted under this section. As for Section 132 of the Penal Code, this section only applies to armed officers like policemen, soldier, sailor, and airman, death penalty under this section is not mandatory like the others, the weight of the punishment depends on the severity of the crime, if the act of mutiny is so severed to the national security of Malaysia, it is reasonable to assume that death penalty would be applied. However, such a section has not been applied yeti Under Section 302 of the Penal Code, those found to be guilty of murdering another person will be sentenced a mandatory death penalty. The case most suitable to show the application of this section would be Mona Fandey’s case, where the accused an her husband and helper butchered a politician in a black magic ritual.
The victim, Mohd Affandi Abdul Rahman was beheaded then his corpse was chopped into 18 parts and later was buried near the accused’s house in the state of Pahang.J The accused together with her husband and helper was charged and convicted under this section for the murder of the politician, they all are executed in Kajang Prison by hanging, Furthermore, Section 307(2)(c) of the Penal Code mandates that anyone committed attempted murder while serving for twenty years in jail will be punish will mandatory death sentence. The purpose of this section seems to be created to combat prison death that could be caused by riots or gang fight behind bars. Besides that, under Section 364 Penal Code, crimes like kidnapping for the purpose of murder, the culprit will be sentences to death based on the severity of the crime committed. Next, under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961, taking a hostage or illegally detain a person with an intention to injure the hostage is a serious crime which can be punished with death if the hostage dies.
127 our experts are availableright now
This section is applied for the infamous Pudu Prison Siege, where Chua Chap Seng also known as Jimmy Chua was convicted and hung for kidnapping a doctor and technician during the siege,R Moreover, robbery which caused murder of the victim, under Section 396 of the Penal Code the accused could be sentence to death.‘1 Additionally, under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, those who found trafficking narcotics into Malaysia will be sentenced with mandatory death penalty, often times foreigners are convicted under this section.‘0 For example, the Barlow & Chambers execution was a famous case involving two Australian nationals, Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Shergold Chambers whom was found trying to smuggle 180 grammes worth of heroin.”
The duos are the first westerners to be convicted under this section At last, both of the accused were hung in Pudu Prison in 1986i Furthermore, this act is abolished in 2012, before Internal Security Act was abolished, the Section 57 ISA mandates that anyone found in possession of firearms are to be sentenced to death, Botak Chin, he was a notorious criminal charged under this section for the possession of firearms, he was later hanged,‘2 Over the years, there are voices that speak out against death penalty, to name a few are the Bar Council, According to Christopher Leong, the President of the Bar Council, he said “MIt is unfair, unjust, and ghastly to carry out the death sentence when there is a possibility of reform of the mandatory death penalty”, Leong contended that there is a survey project conducted by a international human rights organization from UK that proven a large amount of Malaysians are now speaking out and against mandatory death penalty Leong also say that there is not real result and proof that death penalty could be an effective deterrence to prevent crime in Malaysia.”
International groups like Amnesty International Malaysia are now pushing the government to abolish death sentences. Shamini Darshini, the executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia claims that the procedure of execution in Malaysia are done in total secrecy, as the authorities refuse to share information regarding the executions and no post monem information regarding the execution are even given, this move is a clear breach of international standards.“ Christopher Leong‘s claim are supported by Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, the vice chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, he noted in July that death penalty had not deterred drug trades. The Federal Narcotics Department reported that there are about 85500 people arrested on drug related offenses in the first half of 2010.“ In conclusion, death penalty in Malaysia is still here to remain, although pressure are exerted to remove death penalty from this justice system It might take time for Malaysia to take the step to remove death penalty.
