BERA – “There is still death sentence, but it is no longer mandatory as the judges are given the choice to use their discretion in delivering the sentence,” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob explained about the abolition of the mandatory death sentence in Malaysia.
However, the government will fine tune several matters pertaining the abolishment of mandatory death sentence which will be replaced with the discretion of the court.
He said, the mandatory will be changed to other punishment option, namely, the death sentence or other punishments such as life imprisonment and such.
“In principle, the government agreed with the matter, there were several opinion from the minister and such that need fine tuning.
“During the Cabinet meeting last week, the committee was looking into amending the mandatory sentence. The death sentence will not be abolished. It remains, but the mandatory is changed to discretion,” he said.
The Member of Parliament (MP) of Bera felt that everyone deserves a second chance, thus, the abolition of the mandatory sentence could serve as a second chance to the offenders, according to the discretion of the judge.
He also provided examples of the situation on cases related to Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
“For instance, Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act, the judges have no choice as they were tied and they must sentence the offenders to mandatory death.
“Sometimes, the cases involve young people, 18 years old, the judges may think that those youngsters are oppressed, they are unable to prove who gave them the drugs that were found in their bags.
“In the end, the judges have no choice but to sentence them to be hung to death although the judges think that the youth should be given a chance to live and become a better person,” he said. -MalaysiaGazette
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