Malaysia | Government to decide on abolishing death penalty before end 2022

The study will also assess if rehabilitation of convicts would be the better option.

A special committee in Malaysia looking into the proposal to abolish the death penalty will submit its findings to the country's Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law), Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, according to a press statement on Dec. 29.

The statement added that once submitted, Wan Junaidi will then present the committee's findings to Malaysia's Cabinet.

The Bill to amend laws on the death penalty, and other relevant laws, is expected to be tabled in Malaysia's parliament by the third quarter of 2022.

Death penalty would be abolished for 32 offences in 2018

In 2018, the Malaysian Cabinet decided that the death penalty will be abolished for 32 offences under eight acts of law.

Some of the offences include those under the Firearms Act 1960, Kidnapping Act 1961 and Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Malay Mail reported that in August 2019, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government set up a special committee to review alternative punishments to the death penalty.

However, before the Bill could be tabled in parliament in March 2020, the PH government collapsed in February the same year.

Findings also evaluate capital punishment as deterrence

Wan Junaidi said in the statement that the committee was established in 2019 to "gauge the public's response to the proposal as well as examine the ramifications of such a decision".

The statement added that the committee was tasked to look at the issue of the death penalty from several aspects, taking into consideration the views of the various stakeholders.

One critical remit, the statement added, was evaluating the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent.

"There have been repeated calls to abolish the death penalty," Wan Junaidi said in the statement.

He added that as a minister, his role was to assess the effectiveness of these punishments as a deterrence.

"We must study this thoroughly before we come to a decision," he said.

Government to evaluate rehabilitation as a better option

Beyond capital punishment, Wan Junaidi said the government also needed to see if the rehabilitation of convicts, if possible, would be the better option, and in the best interests of the greater society.

"If they have done their time, paid their dues, show genuine remorse for what they have done and have been completely rehabilitated, we should not close the door on them," he said in the statement.

Furthermore, he said that the study was consistent with the Malaysian government's aspirations to rehabilitate criminals and assimilate them back into their respective communities as valuable members of society.

Source: mothership.sg, Faris Alfiq, December 29, 2021

Decision on death penalty repeal after special committee briefing

KUALA LUMPUR: A special committee to look into the proposal to abolish the death penalty will soon submit its findings to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar(pix).

Wan Junaidi in a statement today said he will then present the committee’s findings to the Cabinet and the final decision will be made after the Cabinet has been briefed on the matter.

“There have been repeated calls to abolish the death penalty. As the Minister, my role is to assess the effectiveness of these punishments as a deterrent. We must study this thoroughly before we come to a decision.

“We also need to see if the rehabilitation of convicts, if possible, would be the better option, and in the best interests of the greater society,” he said.

He said the committee was established in 2019 to gauge the public’s response to the proposal as well as to examine the ramifications of such a decision and was asked to look at the issue from several aspects, taking into consideration the views of various stakeholders.

“One critical remit was to evaluate the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, he said the study was in consonant with the government’s aspirations to rehabilitate criminals, where possible and later assimilate them back into their respective communities as valuable members of society.

“If they have done their time, paid their dues, show genuine remorse for what they have done and have been completely rehabilitated, we should not close the door on them,” he said.

According to the statement, the bill to amend laws on the death penalty, as well as other relevant laws, is expected to be tabled in Parliament by the third quarter of 2022.

Source: thesundaily.my, Staff, December, 29, 2021

🚩 | 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

China executes 11 members of gang who ran billion-dollar criminal empire in Myanmar

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who ran mafia-like scam centers in Myanmar and killed workers who tried to escape, Chinese state media reported on Thursday. The Ming family was one of the so-called 4 families of northern Myanmar — crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members held prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta.

Florida | Man convicted of leaving girl to be eaten by gators avoids death penalty

After about 4 hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock. A South Florida man who dropped off a 5-year-old child in the Everglades to be eaten alive by gators nearly 3 decades ago was given a second chance at life as jurors recommended he should spend the rest of his life behind bars instead of being sent to death row. After about four hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock.

Federal Judge Rules Out Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealth CEO Killing

NEW YORK — A federal judge has dismissed two charges against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, effectively removing the possibility of the death penalty in the high-profile case. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled Friday that the murder charge through use of a firearm — the only count that could have carried a capital sentence — was legally incompatible with the remaining interstate stalking charges against Mangione.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Death toll in Iran protests could exceed 30,000

In an exclusive report, the American magazine TIME cited two senior officials from the Iranian Ministry of Health, who stated that the scale of the crackdown against protesters on January 18 and 19 was so widespread that 18-wheeler trailers replaced ambulances. In its report, based on testimony from these two high-ranking officials, TIME revealed statistics that differ vastly from the official narrative of the Islamic Republic.

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

Florida's second execution of 2026 scheduled for February

Florida’s second execution of 2026, a man convicted of killing a grocery story owner, will take place in February. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant Jan. 23 for Melvin Trotter, 65, to die by lethal injection Feb. 24. Florida's first execution will take place just a few weeks earlier when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to die Feb. 10. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987 for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford a year earlier in Palmetto.

China executes another four members of powerful Myanmar-based crime family

China has executed another four members of a powerful Myanmar-based crime family that oversaw 41 pig butchering scam* compounds across Southeast Asia. The executed individuals were members of the Bai family, a particularly powerful gang that ruled the Laukkai district and helped transform it into a hub for casinos, trafficking, scam compounds, and prostitution. China’s Supreme People’s Court approved the executions after 21 members were charged with homicide, kidnapping, extortion, operating a fraudulent casino, organizing illegal border crossings, and forced prostitution. The court said the Bai family made over $4 billion across its enterprise and killed six Chinese citizens.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog