No point having referendum on abolition of death penalty, NGOs tell ex-IGP.

FOTHER-MUCKER

No point having referendum on abolition of death penalty, NGOs tell ex-IGPFMT Reporters -

January 18, 2019 6:34 PM

File pic.

PETALING JAYA: A coalition of NGOs pushing for the abolition of the death penalty has dismissed the need for a referendum on the matter as proposed by former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor.

In a statement, the Malaysian Coalition against the Death Penalty said Malaysia has never had a referendum and that even with the goods and services tax (GST), which affected everyone, there was no referendum.

“The decision was simply made by the government of the day, and supported by a vote in Parliament.

“As such, the question of a referendum does not arise,” they said, in response to Rahim’s remarks at a recent press conference.

The coalition also voiced its disagreement with Rahim’s assertion that Putrajaya was hasty in deciding to abolish capital punishment and that he had failed to take into account the facts on abolishing the death penalty.

It said even as far back as 2010, then de facto law minister Nazri Aziz had publicly stated that the death penalty was not suitable for Malaysia due to the imperfect criminal justice system.

“Since then there have been studies to review the efficacy of laws relating to the death sentence,” it said, citing a 2012 study by the University of Oxford’s criminologist Professor Roger Hood which suggested there would be little public opposition to the abolition of the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking, murder, and firearms offences.

“Public support for the death penalty for murder is also lower than is perhaps assumed. So, this may not be regarded as a definite barrier to complete abolition. The findings were provided to the government.”

Another study commissioned by Putrajaya, and carried out by the International Centre for Law and Legal Studies in Malaysia, recommended to the Cabinet total abolition of the death penalty

“We call on the Cabinet to release the report and results of the study.”

The coalition said MPs have “expressly acknowledged” that the death penalty was not a deterrent to the crimes of drug trafficking when the Dangerous Drugs Act 1954 was amended in 2017 to remove the mandatory death sentence.

“The Hansard reports that MPs acknowledged that the death penalty primarily affected the ‘couriers’,” it said, adding the couriers were made up of the poor, uneducated and disadvantaged sections of society.

“There is no credible empirical evidence to show that the abolition of the death penalty in a particular jurisdiction has led, or will lead, to an increase in the rate of crime in that jurisdiction. “

The coalition, which comprises NGOs like Amnesty International Malaysia, KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Rights Committee, Suaram and individual lawyers, said Putrajaya must be lauded for showing leadership in deciding to abolish the death penalty.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/01/18/no-point-having-referendum-on-abolition-of-death-penalty-ngos-tell-ex-igp/

FOTHER-MUCKER

Good reasoning. A desire to retain the death penalty is based on the emotion of revenge!

baghal_bortuqal

toh la.

kenapa taknak referendum?

let ppl speak their mind la.


simply because you believe in driving the country to the dogs dgn nak berihsan kpd sampah masarakat doesnt mean others would agree.

so go referendum la