Govt agrees to replace mandatory death penalty for drug offence

 

The government has agreed to replace the death penalty with alternative punishment for 23 offences, including a drug offence which currently carries a mandatory death sentence.

It also agreed to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, affecting 1,337 death row inmates.

This was decided in two meetings chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junadi Tuanku Jaafar (above) on Sept 6 and Sept 13.

A memorandum will soon be tabled at the cabinet meeting for approval, before amendments to relevant laws can be tabled for first reading when the Dewan Rakyat convenes on Oct 4 and for second reading on Nov 22, he said.

"The government will hold an engagement session with members of the Dewan Rakyat soon on the implementation of alternate penalties on offences carrying the mandatory death penalty.

"The government is always committed towards more just and compassionate laws pertaining to the issue of caning and the implementation of the death sentence," Wan Junaidi said in a statement.

No evidence death penalty a deterrent

Among laws which will need to be amended are the Dangerous Drugs Act, for which offences under Section 39B carry the mandatory death sentence.

The section pertains to the trafficking of drugs.

The act also states that those found with a certain amount of drugs on them are presumed to be trafficking.

This issue has been especially contentious in the case of marijuana.

In at least one high-profile case, a cancer patient who was charged for possession of marijuana above the threshold for the presumption of trafficking said he was using it for medical reasons.

Research shows there is no evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to the drug trade, said Harm Reduction International, an NGO working on reducing the negative impact of drug policies.

"In fact, according to available estimates, drug markets continue to thrive around the world, despite drug laws in almost every country being grounded in a punitive approach," it said.

In 2018, 120 countries voted in favour of a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. - Mkini