Despite Malaysia’s reforms, 38 per cent of all death penalty cases are drug-related

Although mandatory death penalty was abolished in 2023, many death sentences in Malaysia still involve drug offences. Concerned about the situation, Amnesty International (AI) calls for a moratorium, highlighting human rights violations. For AI Interim Executive Director Vilasini Vijandran, the country’s credibility is undermined. The gap between lower and higher courts on this matter is growing.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – Amnesty International Malaysia has expressed strong concern about the continued use of the death penalty in the Southeast Asian country for drug-related offences, despite extensive reforms that should have led to the end of the practice.

Vilasini Vijandran, Interim Executive Director of Amnesty International, noted that 38 per cent of the new death sentences issued by the High Court in recent months concern drug-related crimes, raising doubts about the country's real willingness to comply with international human rights standards.

In 2024, the Middle East had the highest number of death sentences: Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia alone carried out 91 per cent of global executions.

In its latest report, Amnesty International slams the use of the death penalty against dissent and minorities; instead, it calls for a moratorium, highlighting serious violations of prisoners’ rights, in particular for drug offences.

With respect to international law, in a statement AI executive director stressed that drug-related crimes do not fall into the category of "most serious crimes" – a classification reserved, according to the United Nations, for crimes such as intentional homicide, in which capital punishment can possibly be justified, but only in exceptional cases.

Abolition “would also considerably strengthen Malaysia’s ability to advocate for its own nationals facing execution overseas once its foreign policy commitments are supported by real and lasting reforms at home,” she said.

While the High Court handed down all recent death sentences, data show that the Federal Court upheld only 43 death sentences in total, none of them for drug offences. This shows a widening gap between lower courts’ decisions and higher courts’ supervision, further highlighting the need for greater consistency in the application of justice after the reform.

In July 2023 Malaysia abolished the automatic mandatory death penalty for 11 crimes, including murder, terrorism and drug trafficking, a step widely hailed as historic.

Courts were given a margin of discretion to impose alternative penalties, like 30 to 40 years jail time or flogging, thus overcoming the uniform approach criticised for years.

As a result of the change, the number of people on death row shrunk by nearly 90 per cent, as many sentences were commuted to long prison sentences.

Despite the progress, Vilasini Vijandran noted that the retention of the death penalty for drug offences, albeit at the discretion of the courts, still represents a stain on Malaysia's human rights profile, especially now that the country holds the presidency of ASEAN.

For Vilasini, removing the death penalty for drug-related offences would set a powerful precedent in the region.

“Continuing to sentence individuals to death for non-lethal crimes, especially in light of Malaysia’s own legal reforms, undermines the country’s credibility on the global stage,” she added.

Southeast Asia remains one of the few regions in the world where the death penalty is still actively enforced, particularly for drug-related offences.

Singapore maintains a hard-line and continues to carry out hangings under the Misuse of Drugs Act, resuming executions in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indonesia retains the death penalty for serious crimes, including drug-related offences, but has not carried out any sentences since 2016, which represents a de facto moratorium.

Thailand still allows the death penalty, but no executions have taken place since 2018 and the role of judicial discretion is growing.

Vietnam continues to execute people, but the numbers are a state secret (like in China and North Korea). Most are believed to involve drug-related offences.

The Philippines abolished the death penalty in 2006, but the remains on the political agenda with calls for its reintroduction, especially in relation to drug trafficking.

In this context, Malaysia's 2023 reforms were welcomed as a step forward. However, the continued use of capital punishment for drug offences, even if at the discretion of judges, puts the country at odds with a regional and global trend increasingly oriented towards the abandonment of the death penalty, particularly for non-violent crimes.

Source: asianews.it, Joseph Masilamany, April 11, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Cartoons about Capital Punishment

More cartoons about capital punishment HERE

Hanging of Osaka Arsonist is Japan’s First Execution Under Takaichi Government

As a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death. The execution of Takami Sunao—an arsonist whose 2009 attack in Osaka killed five—on August 21, 2026, was Japan’s first use of capital punishment in just over a year. Over a Decade from Sentencing to Execution Takami Sunao was executed on August 21, 2026 , for a 2009 arson attack at an Osaka pachinko parlor that killed five people. In July 2009, Takami poured gasoline on the floor of a pachinko parlor in Osaka and set it alight, killing 5 customers and staff members and injuring 10 more. While the defense argued that he was in a state of diminished capacity, the Supreme Court finalized his death sentence in February 2016. The execution took place 17 years after the initial crime and 10 and a half years after the death sentence was finalized.

Japan executes man convicted of killing five in 2009 Osaka pachinko parlor arson

Japan on Friday announced the execution of a man convicted of killing five people after setting fire to an Osaka pachinko parlor in 2009, the first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment. The Justice Ministry said Sunao Takami, 58, was hanged to death earlier Friday. Takami in 2009 set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said.

Florida | Jury recommends death sentence for Jeffrey Crum in killing of 12-year-old girl

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County jury has recommended the death penalty for a 65-year-old man who was found guilty last week of raping and killing 12-year-old Jennifer Odom. Sentencing for Jeffrey Crum was held this week. Crum abducted Odom in 1993 after she stepped off her school bus in Pasco County. Her body was found in a Hernando County orange grove six days later.

Spared execution eight times, oldest inmate in US dies at 101 after 76 years behind bars

Francis Clifford Smith was given his last meal eight times. But after being spared execution each time, he went on to be regarded as the longest-serving prisoner in the US before dying in June at 101 years old. Convicted of murder in 1950 when he was 25, he always maintained his innocence, those who knew him told the BBC. Andrius Banevicius, the public information officer for Connecticut's Department of Correction, recounted how Smith used to feed the birds while in Osborn Prison, earning him the nickname The Birdman of Osborn.

Israel builds execution chamber for Palestinians convicted of murder

In March, the Knesset approved legislation that calls for the execution of Palestinians convicted by a military court of killing Israelis Israeli authorities are preparing a prison wing—replete with an execution chamber—designated specifically for Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder, Israel’s i24NEWS channel reported Tuesday. The move comes after the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) approved legislation in March that calls for the execution of Palestinian prisoners convicted by a military court of murdering Israelis.

Florida executes William Frances Silvia

Florida executed its 13th death row prisoner of the year Tuesday evening amid the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty championed by Governor Ron DeSantis. William Frances Silvia, 61, who was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and injuring his mother-in-law in 2006, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after receiving the lethal three-drug injection at Florida State Prison. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Silvia was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up. He remained relatively motionless with his eyes and mouth open throughout most of the execution while a priest sat at his feet and prayed.

Alabama is trying a death penalty bait-and-switch

For a decade, Alabama death row inmate Jeffrey Lee has been clear that he does not want to be executed by lethal injection . But that is what awaits him on September 17 . He faces that prospect because the state has been enjoined from using nitrogen hypoxia , the alternative execution method he preferred, to put him to death. Having failed to show that its nitrogen hypoxia protocol is constitutionally acceptable, Alabama wants a do-over to force Lee to die by lethal injection as a result of its own failure. It should not get one. Alabama should only be able to put Lee to death if it can fix nitrogen hypoxia’s constitutional defects.

Oklahoma executes Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

Oklahoma has carried out 1 of 3 executions set for the same day in the United States in another sign of the resurgence of the death penalty in the country. Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was put to death by lethal injection for the murder of his common-law wife in 2003 at their Oklahoma City home. He admitted to police he shot her twice during an argument. Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, did not fight for his life, stunning his attorneys in July when he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that he didn't want clemency. "It's time for me to pay for what I did," he said.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir posts video of gallows site for hanging Palestinian terrorists

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offenses will be hanged. Ben-Givr said the new execution site would be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings. He posted the video on social media of a visit he had made to the unidentified location, where he can be seen pointing at foundations being laid and saying it was where “terrorists will be executed." Photographs in the Israeli media showed a bulldozer and heavy construction work in a cordoned-off area, reportedly close to a prison.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog