Malaysia has announced plans for a new bill that could abolish the death penalty within weeks and bring in a moratorium on executions effective immediately, a move that could save a Sydney grandmother currently facing execution for drug charges. The announcement was made on October 10, the World Day Against the Death Penalty, and the bill is scheduled to be tabled at the next parliamentary sitting that will begin on Monday. "All death penalty will be abolished. Full stop," Datuk Liew Vui Keong — minister in charge of law in the Prime Minister's Department — told media at an event at University of Malaya. Drug offences account for the largest number of executions in Malaysia, where current laws enforce mandatory capital punishment for crimes ranging from murder and kidnapping to drug offences and treason. Amnesty International reported in March that 799 people on death row were convicted of drug trafficking, including 416 foreign nationals. The aboli...
Striving for a World without Capital Punishment