In his speech during the dialogue session, “Abolition of Death Penalty: Way Forward”, with the United Kingdom and Eire Malaysian Law Student’s Union at the Malaysian High Commission in London on Saturday, Liew said the people should instead move towards becoming a humane society because hanging as punishment for causing a death is never the solution.
“As of Oct 29 this year, there are 65,222 prisoners and 1,281 of them are death row inmates.
“However, just one week before that, there were 59,997 prisoners and 1,279 death row inmates. So, there is an increase of 5,225 prisoners and two death row inmates in a span of just one week,” he said.
A text of his speech was released here.
Liew, who headed the Malaysian delegation for the 11th International Meeting of Justice Ministers on “A World Without the Death Penalty” conference, from Nov 26 to Dec 1 in Italy, had made a stopover in London where he met the Malaysian university students.
He said the issue behind the country taking away a human life would always be a hot button issue and everyone has an opinion on this.
Liew said the government is committed to abolishing the death penalty.
“After the Cabinet decision made on Oct 10, I made an announcement that the death penalty in all laws in this country will be abolished. Coincidentally, the ‘World Day Against the Death Penalty’ also falls on the same day,” he said.
To date, he said, there are 32 offences under eight laws which are punishable with the death penalty.
They include the Penal Code, Strategic Trade Act 2010, Arms Act 1960, Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, Armed Forces Act 1972, Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, Kidnapping Act 1961 and Water Services Industry Act 2006.
Miscarriage of justice
Liew said there was always the possibility of miscarriage of justice when imposing the death penalty.
For example, he said in 2017, a 20-year-old South Korean student, charged in the Seremban High Court for drug trafficking and facing the death penalty, was freed after a police officer, who was the most crucial witness in the case, admitted to lying during the trial.
“It is said that it’s better that 10 guilty men go free than one innocent man be wrongly convicted,” said Liew.
“If an innocent men is sentenced to death, it means that the guilty one is still at large.
“Of course, all these facts are not meant to disregard the feelings of the victims and their family members.”
Liew said the government intends to replace the death penalty with imprisonment for life.
“I fully understand the pain and suffering of those who have lost their loved ones but life has to go on. It’s never easy to let go of the bitterness,” he said.
“I am proposing a mandatory imprisonment for life for those who have been convicted for heinous crimes without the possibility of parole.”