PETALING JAYA: While hailing the apex court’s landmark decision to commute the sentences of seven death row inmates to life imprisonment of 30 years, stakeholders say the government should also consider reviewing the whipping sentence.
The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said the decision by the Federal Court is a culmination of decades-long advocacy efforts towards the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.
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“The resentencing of individuals on death row provides redress to the injustice imposed by corporal punishment.
“Persons on death row in Malaysia are now able to have their personal mitigating circumstances considered by the Federal Court which significantly strengthens the fair trial rights of those engaged in the criminal justice system in Malaysia,” an ADPAN spokesperson said in a statement yesterday.
However, the NGO noted that this positive development is marred by the mandatory whipping requirement of at least 12 lashes.
Of the 10 people on death row resentenced yesterday, two were sentenced to 12 lashes as they did not meet the legal age for exemption from whipping (50 years of age).
Amnesty International had previously described the practice of caning in Malaysia as causing “pain so severe that victims often lose consciousness”.
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“Both these individuals have undergone significant punishment, both physical and emotional, through the long years of solitary confinement and this further punishment imposed against them ought to be construed as cruel and unusual punishment,” ADPAN said while urging the government to consider reviewing the use of mandatory whipping in resentencing cases.
ADPAN also urged the government to end the practice of corporal punishment and work towards the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
“ADPAN reiterates that the abolition of the mandatory death penalty marks an important step towards the complete abolition of the death penalty and we are pleased to see the Federal Court utilising their judicial discretion to hand down sentences which offer hope and rehabilitation,” it said.
Meanwhile, criminal defense lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan said it is time that Malaysia abolishes whipping as a punishment.
“It is excellent that the mandatory death penalty has been abolished but the death penalty still exists.
“This is still cause for concern. The death penalty should be abolished completely,” he said, describing the death penalty as a barbaric punishment.
As for whipping, he said the United Kingdom abolished whipping in 1948 and India abolished it in 1955.
“Why is Malaysia still whipping its citizens in 2023? This is a barbaric and primitive punishment that has to be wiped off of our criminal statutes,” he added.
