Press Release | Abolish the Death Penalty at the Upcoming Parliament Sitting

Tuesday, 05 March 2019 04:25pm

The Malaysian Bar reiterates that we wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Cabinet to totally abolish the death penalty in Malaysia, as announced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law), YB Datuk Liew Vui Keong, on 10 October 2018.  The Cabinet decision is clearly correct and conscionable, and we eagerly await the decision to be acted upon.   We thus urge the Government to table the bill to abolish the death penalty once and for all in the upcoming Parliamentary session, which begins on 11 March 2019.  This would be in tandem with the strides we have made to become a “new Malaysia” that now abides by the Federal Constitution and upholds the rule of law, as has repeatedly been asserted by the Prime Minister.   The right to life is a fundamental right that must be absolute, inalienable and universal, irrespective of the crime committed by the accused person.  This is vouchsafed in Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which eschews the arbitrary deprivation of life.     The Malaysian Bar further calls upon the Government to stop all executions, undertake a review of all cases of those sentenced to death prior to the abolishment of the death penalty, and to commute or recommend the commutation of each such death sentence to a sentence that is commensurate with the circumstances of each case George Varughese President Malaysian Bar 5 March 2019

Malaysian Bar: Abolish the death penalty at next Parliament Sitting The Malaysian Bar has urged the government to abolish the death penalty in the next Parliament sitting. (NSTP Archive)   By NSTOnline - March 5, 2019 @ 6:28pm KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar has urged the government to abolish the death penalty in the next Parliament sitting. Its president George Varughese said such a move would be in tandem with the strides undertaken by the nation to become a “new Malaysia” which abides by the Federal Constitution as well as upholding the rule of law, as asserted by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. "We thus urge the Government to table the bill to abolish the death penalty once and for all in the upcoming Parliamentary session, which begins on March 11," he said in a statement, today. Varughese adds that the right to life is a fundamental right that must be absolute, inalienable and universal, irrespective of the crime committed by the accused person. "This is vouchsafed in Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which eschews the arbitrary deprivation of life," he said. He said the Malaysian Bar also calls upon the government to stop all executions as well as undertake a review of all cases of those sentenced to death prior to the abolishment of the death penalty. The Bar recommended for the government to commute or recommend the commutation of each such death sentence to a sentence that will commensurate with the circumstances of each case. "The Malaysian Bar reiterates that we wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Cabinet to totally abolish the death penalty in Malaysia, as announced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law), Datuk Liew Vui Keong, on Oct 10, 2018. "The Cabinet decision is clearly correct and conscionable, and we eagerly await the decision to be acted upon," he said. The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah will open the next Dewan Rakyat session on March 11. The lower house of Parliament will sit for 20 days until Apr 11 while the Dewan Negara will sit for 12 days from Apr 22 to May 9. - New Straits Times, 5/3/2019