ATTEMPTS by 19 death row inmates to escape the gallows failed after their applications to have their sentences commuted were rejected by the Federal Court, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The minister in charge of Law and Institutional Reforms said of the 474 applications in which the review had been completed, 19 were rejected.
“The death sentences remained, among others, for those charged with the murder of more than one victim or involving the murder of children,” she said in a written reply in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
In her reply to Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukir Bendera), Azalina said 936 applications by death row inmates to commute their death sentences had been reviewed.
Syerleena had wanted to know how many death sentences were reviewed by the Federal Court and how many death sentences remained between Nov 14, 2023 and May 31 this year.
On July 4 last year, the Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 came into force in the country.
A total of 11 offences, which previously carried the mandatory death sentence, were affected by the new law.
Under the Review of Death Penalty and Life Imprisonment Act 2023 (Federal Court Temporary Jurisdiction), death row inmates have 90 days to seek a review of their sentence by the Federal Court.
The Federal Court can revise death sentences and substitute them with life imprisonment – between 30 and 40 years – and between six and 12 strokes of the rotan, depending on the crime.
However, courts still have the discretion to mete out the death penalty for offences such as murder, terrorist acts and taking hostages.
Previous attempts to abolish the mandatory death penalty had been unsuccessful, although a moratorium on hangings had been in place since 2018 involving some 1,300 death row inmates.
