KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 ― Malaysia has executed 12 out of a total 829 people who were sentenced to death since 2010, the Home Ministry said today.
In a written parliamentary reply to Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, the ministry added that 95 others have received either a royal pardon or had their death sentence commuted.
“The sentence has been handed out due to the offences of murder, drug trafficking, smuggling firearms, and also kidnapping,” the ministry said.
Gobind had asked the government to give a breakdown on the death sentences meted out since 2010.
Last week, prison authorities came under criticism for what was described by Amnesty International as the “secretive” hanging of a 34-year-old man at the Taiping prison.
This was because Gunasegaran Pitchaymuthu was reportedly given very short notice regarding his execution.
Discussions and debates to abolish death penalty in Malaysia, especially under the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) had been taking place in Malaysia since 2011, but no legislative amendments had been proposed to date.
