KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — The government will take the step of getting the mandatory death sentence abolished in Parliament after getting feedback from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), said Minister-in-the-PrimeMinister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong.
He said the government was still waiting for the feedback and comprehensive review of the matter from the AGC before bringing it to Parliament for further action.
“At the moment the process is still with the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC). It has not come to the Cabinet yet. As for how long this process will take… I hope it will be done by next month, hopefully after the budget (2019 Budget) tabling,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
Liew said that he had been instructed to issue a moratorium to the Pardons Board to defer executions of those on death row.
Earlier, when winding up debate on the 11th Malaysia Plan mid-term review for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat, Liew said the government would not be hasty on abolishing the death sentence.
He said the government would take into consideration all views and do a comprehensive study on the proposal to do away with the death sentence, which involves 32 offences under eight acts of law.
Liew said the government had carried out a study on abolishing the death penalty which was done by I-CeLLS, an organisation under the auspices of the AGC and also involved renowned Professor Roger Hood from the University of Oxford.
“The previous government had undertaken the study, if I am not mistaken in 2013, but the government then might have lacked the political will to see it through (completely abolish the death penalty),” he said.
He was replying to Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) who advised the government not be hasty about abolishing the death penalty. — Bernama
