The families of deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais, cosmetics millionairess Sosilawati Lawiya, and banker Wong Jing Kui shared why they are against abolishing the death penalty at a press conference today.

Erni Dekritawati Yuliana Buhari, the daughter of Sosilawati, said the death sentence must stay.

She said even in Islam, those who take the life of another must have their lives taken away.

She said not doing so would not be right to the families of murder victims such as herself, who lost her mother.

“So many people relied on her and she was suddenly taken from us. Who would have taken care of us then?” she asked, her voice breaking.

“The punishment (death penalty) must stay because it is unfair to the victims of the families. Can you imagine if this happened to you?

“I admit we can aim for better human rights, but I strongly disagree that we need to lose the death penalty (to do this),” she said.

Sosilawati and three friends had gone to meet with her lawyer at his farm in Banting. She went to ask him to expedite payment for two post-dated cheques worth RM4 million in proceeds for the sale of her land handled by his legal firm.

Instead, the four met their grisly end in 2010 at the hands of former lawyer N Pathmanabhan and farm workers T Thilaiyalagan and R Kathavarayan, with their bodies burned cremation-style through the use of logs.

Richard Morais, the younger brother of Kevin, recalled how his brother was kidnapped and brought to Subang Jaya where he was murdered and put into a drum in 2015. He was later found covered to the brim in cement.

“They cemented his body; are you going to release these people?”

“I’m the only one who saw him. I couldn’t even make out his body,” he said with tears welling up in his eyes.

“I have never heard of crimes like this where the prosecutor was targeted and killed for doing his job for the government.

“You’ve got to lose a member of your family to murder to understand how we feel,” he said.

Wong Hie Huong, Jing Kui’s sister, said a suspect in the murder of her brother in 2012 in Sibu, Sarawak, is still at large and has Jing Kui’s child.

This is despite Jing Kui’s wife, Ling Hang Tsyr, been sentenced to death last year for abetting her now missing lover in her husband’s death.

Lawyer Christina Teng, who is a spokesman for the families of the murder victims, said many Malaysians are against the move to abolish the death penalty as justice is not seen as having been served.

“We are asking the government to please do proper due diligence,” Teng said at a press conference in Desa Pandan here.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong said last month that a bill to abolish the death penalty is expected to be tabled at the ongoing Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Teng, however, acknowledged that there were instances when the death penalty should not have been imposed. She listed instances of entrapment, duress or using drugs for medical needs as examples.

But she said the discretion should lie solely with the courts and not with the government, explaining that the death penalty should be an option for serious drug cases that can lead to other social woes and crimes.

She said axing the death penalty would only lead to more crimes, resulting in people living in fear.

Teng said Malaysia currently has a “smart government” but it is “still too emotional”. She said it needs to be strong and say “no” to activists and look at the bigger picture.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the family of murdered PKR land activist Bill Kayong is also unhappy with the proposal to do away with the death penalty.

Miri MP Dr Michael Teo Yu Keng said the family had informed him of this, saying it would give the impression that murder was not a serious crime.

“They personally sent me a message about it,” he said at a separate press conference.

Kayong, who was Miri PKR secretary, was shot dead in 2016. On Aug 10, bouncer Mohd Fitri Pauzi was sentenced to death for the crime.