Yesterday, de facto Law Minister Azalina Othman announced in parliament that the government has agreed to the proposal to repeal the mandatory death sentence for drug offences. This is an issue that I have raised since I was first elected, together with my colleagues M. Kulasegaran, Gobind Singh Deo and Kasthuri Patto we have lobbied for this proposal in the past 6 years.
In her announcement, Azalina said Attorney General Apandi Ali had communicated with and the Cabinet had agreed to review Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 in order to allow judges discretion to decide on the penalty for drug offences. Under current laws, all those convicted of drug-related offences must be sentenced to death.
I welcome the announcement as a step in the right direction in our longstanding fight to abolish the death penalty. In 2011, I helped then-de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz organise a Parliamentary Roundtable which was attended by MPs from both the government and the opposition, to discuss reviewing the mandatory death penalty.
The roundtable recommended that there should be 1) moratorium of execution upon a thorough review of the death penalty; and 2) an immediate end to mandatory death sentences by returning discretion to the judges.
Thereafter, the issue saw sluggish progress even after two changes of the Minister in charge. Azalina’s announcement yesterday was good progress and I hope to see the actual amendments expedited in her tenure.
However, Azalina stopped short of declaring a moratorium on executions in the meanwhile. We urge the government to stay all executions pending a thorough review of the death penalty.
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.