KOTA KINABALU: The government will not hold a public vote on the proposal to abolish the death penalty.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the matter was an ongoing process and not finalised.
“It is not completed yet because the papers have to go through various ministries.
“We are not going to have a referendum on that matter. That’s for sure,” he told reporters after the opening of the Sabah and Sarawak Legal Year at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex, here, today.
Liew was responding to a Facebook poll by Berita Harian, where 85 per cent of Netizens agreed for the government to hold a referendum before deciding on abolishing the death penalty.
In October last year, the cabinet gave the green light for the death penalty to be abolished.
Liew had said the necessary paperwork to abolish the death penalty already received the go ahead from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to be tabled in Parliament.
In Malaysia, the death penalty carried out by hanging is mandatory for crimes such as murder with intent to kill, for trafficking excessive amounts of drugs and possession of firearms.
The proposal to repeal the death sentence has seen opposition from various quarters, including former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor and lawyers.
Abdul Rahim had said the government should seek public opinion first as the death penalty was an important issue.
Lawyer and DAP MP Ramkarpal Singh also said the people’s view must be taken into account and that the necessary stakeholders must come to an agreement on the best way to hold the referendum.
Source: nst.com.my, Avila Geraldine, January 18, 2019
⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us:
deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde