BERA (Pahang): The death penalty will remain and will not be abolished, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today. He explained that the change in government policy was to allow judges to be given discretion in sentencing.
The prime minister’s remarks came in response to law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s statement earlier today that the government had agreed to abolish mandatory death sentences and allow courts the discretion.
Ismail said the change was to remove the word “mandatory” which had left judges with no choice but to impose the death sentence for certain criminal offences such as drug trafficking.
“We are of the view that everyone deserves a second chance. If there are two options (of sentences), and if the offender is found to be a hardcore drug trafficker to the extent of causing hundreds of thousands of people to die (due to drugs), he can be sentenced to death and be sent to the gallows.
“However, if the judge, in his discretion, felt that the offender should be given a second chance and decided to sentence him to life imprisonment with whipping, he can substitute the mandatory death sentence with that life sentence,” he said.
Ismail cited the Dangerous Drugs Act which provides for a mandatory death sentence upon conviction for trafficking.
The section left the judge with no choice but to impose the death penalty even though there may be several factors that can be taken into consideration, he said.
“Sometimes, the case involves an 18-year-old. The judge may find him ‘trapped’ as drugs were found in his bag but he could not prove that they belonged to somebody else, and the court has to send him to the gallows even though the judge felt that the accused was just a young man who should be given a second chance.
“We have to understand that the death penalty is not abolished and will remain, it’s just that the sentence will no longer be mandatory,” he said.
Ismail added that although the government agreed in principle to abolish mandatory death sentences, the matter still needed to be scrutinised.
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