“(Death row) Inmates should be granted a chance to have their sentences reviewed,” Nordin said at a regional conference on prison reform today, adding that Malaysia was moving to implement prison reforms.

The prison transformation plan, he said, would centre on rehabilitative and corrective methods, where instead of imprisonment, alternative sentences such as community service would be handed out.

Nordin said once the law was amended, drug offenders with a sentence of less than three years would undergo community rehabilitation instead of imprisonment.

“We believe that by serving their sentence in the community, offenders will get proper treatment because anti-drug agencies have cure and care clinics to treat drug users in the community,” he said.

He also said rehabilitation and correction were essential to reintegrate inmates into the community upon their release and to prevent a relapse of criminal behaviour. Inmates should be provided support and opportunities to succeed in life after imprisonment.

The regional conference is a two-day event organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) in collaboration with the Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institution Forum.