Nazri renews call for abolition of death penalty

PARLIAMENT | Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz has renewed his call for Putrajaya to abolish the mandatory death penalty.

"In Malaysia, there are 918 death row inmates, including 472 Malaysians and 446 non-Malaysians. Their countries had sought clemency on behalf of the families and we have to sort this out.

"It is not right to take the lives of another. It's not logical," he said.

He urged the government to expedite abolishing the death sentence, particularly in drug trafficking cases involving drug mules.

"The parliamentarians have the power to (abolish the death penalty). Drug mules are people who suffered, who are not smart, who gain nothing from drug trafficking and they are not drug lords," he said.

Nazri said this while debating Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He also commended Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob who personally appealed to his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong for 33-year-old Malaysian Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam to be spared the gallows.

Nazri said despite Malaysia itself imposing capital punishment for drug trafficking, Ismail Sabri's appeal showed that the prime minister's sincere concern and was a reflection of the "Malaysian Family" concept.

'Malaysian Family is not just a slogan'

"While there is no moral high ground for (Ismail Sabri) to do so, but as the head of the Malaysian family, he (needs to be) thick-skinned and he sought leniency from his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, in the case of Nagaenthran.

"I believe that the prime minister shares the feeling of the family of Nagaenthran. His action showed his sincerity that the Malaysian Family is not just a slogan," he said.

He also expressed his gratitude to Singapore for being willing to help Malaysia in this case.

Nazri was referring to the stay of execution in the case of Nagaenthran by the Singapore High Court.

He hopes Nagaenthran's death sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment.

Back in 2011, Nagaenthran was sentenced to death for trafficking 42.72gm of diamorphine into Singapore two years prior. Heroin is made from diamorphine.

Previous appeals and clemency petitions have failed.

Since the execution date became known, his case sparked public outcry, with particular attention on his lower-than-average IQ of 69 and other mental health issues.

Anti-death penalty and lawyer groups have launched a #SaveNagaenthran campaign, urging the republic to commute his death sentence to a life sentence.

In response, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cited the courts and said Nagaenthran’s mental responsibility for his offence was “not substantially impaired” and he “clearly understood” that transporting drugs was a crime.

As pressure and media queries mounted, the MHA again disputed his mental condition yesterday. It said several psychiatrists had told the court he was “not intellectually disabled” and “knew what he was doing”. - Mkini