On Sunday, February 20th, Malaysian rallied on social media, calling on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and Law Minister Wan Junaidi to abolish the death penalty in Malaysia. They were responding to reports that the Malaysian Cabinet was expected to convene to determine whether the mandatory death sentence should be repealed for several offenses. According to news reports, Law Minister Wan Junaidi said that Cabinet would make a decision on imposing mandatory death sentences by the end of February. Since the moratorium on executions was imposed in 2018, this could be the next big step Malaysia takes towards the goal of complete abolition of the death penalty.
Unfortunately, we have not yet heard back from Cabinet about any decision regarding the mandatory death penalty. We are still calling on supporters to continue calling on Cabinet members to to seize this chance to swiftly introduce draft legislation to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
During the week prior to the expected Cabinet meeting, Amnesty International Malaysia:
- Sent a submission to the Law Minister and other Cabinet members on our concerns about the death penalty in Malaysia
- Held a press conference and published a press release
- Ran an issue briefing for members and supporters on the death penalty and its potential repeal