KUALA LUMPUR: Parliament should not just look into abolishing the mandatory death sentence for certain offences in Malaysia but all death penalties.
Amnesty International-Malaysia (AI-M) executive director Nora Murat said Malaysia made history on June 27 when an inter-parliamentarian caucus under Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz agreed to push for a resolution to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
However, she urged political leaders to not just abolish the mandatory death penalty but completely abolish the death penalty in Malaysia.
“We need to follow the human rights trend of the 140 UN member states who are abolitionist either in law or practice,” said Nora, in conjunction with the ninth World Day against Death Penalty yesterday.
She said Malaysia was already taking the right step - there was only one execution between January and September 2010.
Nora said the mandatory death penalty stripped judges of their ability to make good sentencing decisions, adding that there had been cases where the mandatory death penalty resulted in miscarriage of justice and unfairly discriminated against the poor and uneducated.
Describing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's Malaysia Day speech as breaking the ground for a better human rights culture, Nora said Malaysia would be seen as a state that placed human rights as its guiding principle by “executing the death penalty.”
Nora is among the speakers at a public forum to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Thursday.
Others include Nazri, who will deliver the keynote address, and Lord Alf Dubs of the British House of Lords.
This is the first seminar under the Anti-Death Penalty Campaign - a joint effort by the Bar Council's Human Rights Committee, Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia and Suhakam.
To register, contact Adi Irman (03-2050 2102) or Adilah Ariffin (03-2050 2091; adilah@malaysianbar.org.my).
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International Malaysia Law Conference (26 to 28 Sept 2012) Hurry up! The countdown continues and the current promotion rate ends 30 June 2012. Don't miss what is going to be the best conference in the region! On top of that, if you sign up with 5 or more people from the same organisation, we will give you a 10% group discount. Click on the link above to register.
Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
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Circular No 109/2012: Be a Part of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee
Ask political parties to put this issue in their respective manifesto and we'll see. Is Amnesty joining? Of course not.