900 on death row for drug trafficking may get reprieve
Reports by MARTIN CARVALHO, YUEN MEIKENG AND RAHIMY RAHIM
SOME 900 Malaysians and foreigners on death row for drug trafficking
may get a reprieve on their sentences pending a study to abolish the
death penalty, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk
Seri Nazri Aziz.
“A proposal will be submitted to the Cabinet by
next week to approve the moratorium on death sentences pending the
outcome of a study by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to abolish the
death penalty for those convicted under Section 52(1) of the Dangerous
Drugs Act,” he told reporters here after meeting a delegation of
Indonesian lawmakers from the Indonesian-Malaysian Caucus in Parliament
House.
The 900 include 86 Indonesians, with 75 of them in jail
for drug offences, nine for murder, one sentenced under the Kidnapping
Act 1961 and another under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971.
The
cases of 75 Indonesian nationals sentenced to death for drug
trafficking will be submitted to the Cabinet pending the final outcome
of the Government’s review on the death sentences, Nazri said.
“We
can’t have a holistic solution on the abolition of the death sentence.
If we wait, by that time many of them may be hung,” he said.
Nazri
also noted that imposing death sentences on drug mules may not be a
proportionate punishment as opposed to that for murderers.
“How
can we seek clemency for Malaysian drug mules sentenced to death in
other countries when we hang their nationals here for such offences?” he
added. - The Star, 25/10/2012, 900 on death row for drug trafficking may get reprieve
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