Death Penalty News

Amnesty International Malaysia, however, says that without full abolition, Malaysia remains with the minority of countries still holding on to an unjust and irreversible punishment. PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s judicial reforms have led to a clear decline in the use of the death penalty, with only 15 new death sentences recorded in 2025, although Amnesty International Malaysia says full abolition remains a distant goal. The rights group said Malaysian courts imposed 15 death sentences in 2025, down from 24 in 2024 and 38 in 2023, following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.

Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has replaced the death sentence of a former college student convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend with 40 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane. PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has commuted the death sentence imposed on a former college student convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, replacing it with 40 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane. A three-member bench chaired by Justice Azman Abdullah allowed the appeal by Fakrul Aiman Sajali on 14 May 2026 and substituted the death penalty handed down earlier by the High Court.

TOKYO— A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 29-year-old woman in Tokyo’s Roppongi district in 2018. Police said Nobuaki Takahashi, who had been on an international wanted list since June 2019, was arrested on Saturday at Narita airport after being extradited from Malaysia, NTV reported. Takahashi left Japan for Malaysia on Oct 13, 2018, five days before the body of Aisha Kumi Balletta, 29, was found in his apartment. Balletta, a Japanese-American, had multiple head injuries and had been dead for more than a week. She lived in Yokohama and was apparently a regular visitor to the apartment, neighbors said.

Judges reject a challenge that argued it was cruel and degrading Malaysia's top court has ruled that the use of caning as a form of punishment is constitutional, while dismissing a plea from prisoners seeking relief from the punishment imposed on them. In a 2-1 majority decision, the Malaysian Federal Court ruled that the use of whipping or caning did not fall within the ambit of a cruel, oppressive and degrading punishment in the constitutional sense, Bernama reported on April 22. It is not the function of the court to act as a moral arbiter or a 'super-legislature' in the guise of constitutional interpretation, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, one of the judges, said.

SINGAPORE — Singaporean authorities executed Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj at Changi Prison on Thursday, April 16, 2026, following his 2019 conviction for importing 1,009.1 grams of cannabis. Bamadhaj, 41, though some reports have cited his age as 46, was arrested on July 12, 2018, during a routine search at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Officers discovered the narcotics wrapped in plastic and hidden within his vehicle as he attempted to enter Singapore from Malaysia.  Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, the threshold for the mandatory death penalty involving cannabis is 500 grams, a limit this shipment exceeded by more than double.

Adding a compensation clause to the Road Transport Act will help victims avoid a long-drawn-out civil suit, minister says There is no necessity to introduce the death penalty into the Road Transport Act 1987 for driving under the influence, according to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke. Loke said existing laws were sufficient to prosecute serious offences and that offenders could still be charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, where applicable.

Ani Anggraeni spent nearly 15 years in prison for drug trafficking before her death sentence was commuted and she was later pardoned An Indonesian woman who spent nearly 15 years on death row in a Malaysian prison for drug trafficking has returned home after receiving clemency, in a case rights groups say highlights the exploitation of poor migrant women in cross-border drug operations. Ani Anggraeni, also known as Asih, boarded a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta late on Thursday after being freed from custody.

Lingkesvaran was sentenced to death in 2018.  A Malaysian man convicted of trafficking a significant quantity of heroin was executed in Singapore on Feb. 11, 2026, according to an official statement issued by the Singapore authorities.  Lingkesvaran Rajendaren, 33, had been found guilty of trafficking not less than 52.77 grammes of diamorphine, also known as pure heroin.  Singapore law mandates the death penalty for cases involving more than 15 grams of the drug.  The authorities said the amount involved was enough to sustain the addiction of approximately 630 abusers for a week, highlighting the harm caused by large-scale drug trafficking.

Countries across Southeast Asia are moving away from the use of capital punishment. But Singapore remains an outlier. From Vietnam to Malaysia and Indonesia, Southeast Asian governments are narrowing the use of the death penalty and edging, often cautiously, toward abolition.  At present, eight of the 11 Southeast Asian countries retain the death penalty. Only Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste have abolished it in law. But recent years have seen most of the retentionist states abide by de facto moratoriums on executions and pass new legislation so death is no longer the mandatory punishment for certain crimes.

A French national facing a possible death sentence in Malaysia on eight drug-related charges was acquitted Tuesday, freeing him after nearly two and a half years in detention. The High Court in the northern city of Alor Setar ruled that prosecutors failed to prove that Tom Felix, 34, had control, custody or possession of the drugs in the case. “The accused is, therefore, released and acquitted,” Alor Setar High Court judge Evawani Farisyta Mohammad said. Felix, in court wearing a white shirt and trousers, his hands cuffed, looked visibly pleased as the judge delivered the decision.

SINGAPORE, Dec 29 — A 39-year-old Malaysian man has been arrested at Singapore’s northern border after authorities found more than 3kg of cannabis and 1.7kg of Ice during checks at Woodlands Checkpoint, in a case that crosses the city-state’s capital punishment thresholds for drug importation. According to a joint statement issued today by Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau and Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the man was flagged for enhanced screening on the evening of December 22 after information from ICA’s Integrated Targeting Centre.

Singapore will not alter its capital punishment laws, maintaining that the death penalty is a crucial deterrent against drug offences, its Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said.  Speaking at a media roundtable during the 17th Malaysian Journalists' visit programme organised by Singapore's Digital Development and Information Ministry, Balakrishnan said the punishment remains in place with strong public support despite international pressure and human rights concerns.  "There is no change to the law," he said, stressing that drug trafficking presents a clear and present threat. 

The working group would include all stakeholders from those in the justice system, as well as non-governmental organisations. KUALA LUMPUR — The proposal for the total abolition of the death penalty will undergo further detailed study starting January next year, says M. Kulasegaran. The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department stated that the government was in the process of establishing a Policy and Direction Review Working Group on the Death Penalty in Malaysia, which would collaborate with the Malaysian Law Reform Committee (CLRC).

A 22-year-old former university student facing the death penalty for murdering and burning his pregnant girlfriend's body 2 years ago in Sabak Bernam is now appealing for a reduced sentence.  Lawyer Muhammad Nor Tamrin, representing Muhammad Fakrul Aiman Sajali, said a notice of appeal to review the death penalty was filed at the Court of Appeal through Messrs M. Nor & Partners on Oct 20.  According to court documents, Fakrul Aiman is appealing against the decision of Klang High Court judge Norliza Othman on Oct 15, which found him guilty of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Singapore has executed 14 prisoners this year. Among them was Pannir, hanged earlier this month for a first-time drug offence. Death is the courtesy extended to you as a mercy. This is the first line of a poem called You Die from Within , written last year by then 37-year-old Pannir Selvam Pranthaman while on death row in Singapore. Pannir was convicted of smuggling drugs after 51 grams of pure heroin were found on him at a checkpoint on Singapore's border with Malaysia. According to Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau, there were three packets of a "granular/powdery substance" found on his body and one packet in a compartment on his motorbike.

When Malaysia, through a deputy minister, allegedly said it was “useless” (or “of no operational value”) to keep a Malaysian at risk of being executed in Singapore , it was totally unjust, wrong and contrary to Malaysia’s own position of a moratorium on executions, pending the abolition of the death the penalty, and the obligation to act against the crime of drug trafficking , and, most importantly, Malaysia’s duty to protect the lives of Malaysians. Worse, the minister revealed that no investigation papers were opened and the matter was not even referred to the public prosecutor. It is the public prosecutor who should have decided whether it was important to keep such a possible material witness alive or not and whether to commence investigations on those whose names were provided by Pannir Selvam Pranthaman.

The Singaporean government hanged Pannir Selvam this month, the 10th convict to be executed in 2025 for nonviolent narcotics violations. When I met Angelia Pranthaman and her brother Joshua in Singapore two years ago, they were still cheerful and upbeat. They had a couple of hours to kill before their bus back to Malaysia, a long journey they undertook as often as they could to visit their brother Pannir Selvam. Growing up in a Christian, Indian-Malaysian family, Pannir's five brothers and sisters remember him as a playful, naughty boy who was always getting into trouble, but also a talented musician who played drums and guitar at their local church.

The prosecution says the punishment is legal as it is provided for in the Penal Code and the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. Three convicts are seeking to have their whipping sentences set aside by the Federal Court, following the death of Zaidi Abdul Hamid at Pokok Sena prison in Kedah last week. PUTRAJAYA: The prosecution urged the Federal Court today to dismiss an application by three convicts seeking exemption from whipping, arguing that their reliance on the recent death of another prisoner was purely speculative and without basis. Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz said the trio’s review applications were influenced by media coverage surrounding the death of Zaidi Abdul Hamid at Pokok Sena prison in Kedah last week.

SINGAPORE, Oct 4 — Malaysian death-row inmate Pannir Selvam Pranthaman is scheduled to be executed in Singapore on October 8, a month after his post-appeal application was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. His family’s lawyer N. Surendran said the notice of execution was issued to the family this morning. “The family get two visits a day until Oct 7. We will update later for any next course of action,” he told Bernama when contacted. 

Hayat says the execution of drug mules will effectively eliminate potential witnesses to drug operations. PETALING JAYA: Executing drug couriers and low-level operators will not deter or hamper drug syndicates, and will instead embolden them, says a group that advocates for criminal justice reform. Hayat said the execution of drug mules would effectively eliminate potential witnesses to drug operations. “Executions do not disrupt syndicates, nor do they dismantle the systems that enable them to thrive.