Malaysia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The death penalty is provided for by various laws
- News items in the archive
- 970
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Malaysia is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 970 news items on Malaysia, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
JULY 31, 2026MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: EX-MILITARY DOCTOR FAILS IN BID TO REVIEW CONVICTION FOR KEVIN MORAIS’S MURDER
APRIL 14, 2026MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: DEATH PENALTY NOT NEEDED FOR DRINK DRIVING CASES, SAYS TRANSPORT MINISTER
Malaysia’s Transport minister Loke Siew Fook on April 13, 2026 shut the door on the possibility of introducing the death penalty under the Road Transport Act for cases linked to driving under the influence, despite calls from certain quarters to do so.
- APRIL 8, 2026IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIAN GRANDMOTHER FREED FROM MALAYSIA’S DEATH ROW AFTER 15 YEARS RETURNS HOME
An Indonesian grandmother who spent about 15 years on death row in Malaysia for drug trafficking on April 2, 2026 returned home after receiving clemency
- FEBRUARY 28, 2026MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING EX-GIRLFRIEND' S THREE-YEAR OLD SON
The Klang High Court on February 27, 2026 sentenced S. Davandrakumar, 33, to death by hanging after finding him guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s three-year-old son in 2021.
- FEBRUARY 3, 2026FranceDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIAN COURT ACQUITS FRENCH MAN FACING POSSIBLE DEATH PENALTY ON DRUG CHARGES
A French national facing a possible death penalty in Malaysia on eight drug-related charges was acquitted on February 3, 2026, freeing him after nearly two and a half years in detention.
JANUARY 13, 2026MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: NIGERIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF STEP-GRANDSON
The Kuala Lumpur High Court in the Malaysian capital on January 8, 2026 sentenced a Nigerian national to death by hanging after finding him guilty of murdering his step-grandson by throwing the four-year-old child from the third floor of an apartment in t
- NOVEMBER 20, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APEX COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY ON S’WAK MAN FOR KILLING BABY
The Federal Court on November 19, 2025 upheld the conviction and death sentence on a father found guilty of murdering his two-month-old disabled baby boy by smashing the child’s body.
- NOVEMBER 18, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: GOVT FORMS SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO CONDUCT STUDY ON ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY
The government is setting up a special task force to study the status and direction of the death penalty in Malaysia
OCTOBER 19, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING, BURNING PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND
Klang High Court on October 15, 2025 sentenced a man to death by hanging after he pleaded guilty to a charge of murdering and burning his pregnant girlfriend in Sabak Bernam, two years ago.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: APEX COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY ON SRI AMAN PHARMACIST CONVICTED OF 2018 MURDER OF CHINESE NATIONAL WIFE
Kuching Federal Court on September 23, 2025 upheld the death sentence imposed on a Sri Aman pharmacist convicted of murdering his wife in 2018.
JULY 8, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: SENIOR CITIZEN ACQUITTED OF MURDER, ESCAPES DEATH SENTENCE
A senior citizen was acquitted and discharged by the Court of Appeal on July 7, 2025, setting aside his conviction and death sentence for the murder of his disabled stepsister-in-law six years ago.
- JULY 3, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR EX-MILITARY DOCTOR IN KEVIN MORAIS MURDER CASE
The Federal Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on former military doctor R Kunaseegaran over the murder of deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais 10 years ago, FMT reported on July 1st, 2025.
JUNE 30, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER OF FRIEND’S CHILDREN
The High Court in Alor Setar has sentenced a man to death for murdering his friend’s two young children six years ago, Free Malaysia Today reported on June 30, 2025.
JUNE 18, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: SYABU TRAFFICKER’S DEATH SENTENCE REPLACED WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT
A self-employed man, who received the capital punishment for trafficking in syabu, escaped the hangman’s noose after the Court of Appeal in Kota Kinabalu on June 17, 2025 substituted it with an imprisonment for life.
APRIL 10, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: TWO PAKISTANI NATIONALS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING OVER 191KG OF KETAMINE
The Malaysian High Court on April 10, 2025 imposed the death penalty on two Pakistani nationals after they were found guilty of trafficking 191.28 kg of ketamine six years ago.
- APRIL 7, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
TWO YEARS AFTER ABOLISHING THE MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY, DATA SHOWS MALAYSIA MAY BE MOVING ON FOR GOOD
Within two years year of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim administration abolishing the mandatory death penalty, the number of death row inmates has plunged by nearly 90 per cent
- MARCH 31, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: 5 INDIAN NATIONALS GET DEATH PENALTY CONVERTED TO 30 YEARS’ JAIL FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has commuted the death sentences of five Indian nationals to 30 years in prison, finding them guilty on two counts of drug trafficking at a plantation in Rantau, Negeri Sembilan, seven years ago, Free Malaysia Today reported on
- MARCH 18, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT REINSTATES DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAWANG MAN WHO MURDERED WIFE AND BABY IN 2016
The Federal Court on March 14, 2025 reinstated the death penalty for a former lorry driver convicted of murdering his wife and seven-month-old daughter in 2016.
- JANUARY 13, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE OF EX-LORRY DRIVER CONVICTED OF RAPE-CUM-MURDER OF ELDERLY WOMAN COMMUTED TO 40 YEARS IMPRISONMENT
A former lorry driver who murdered an 85-year-old woman after raping and sodomising her in 2019 has his death sentence commuted to 40 years in prison by the Federal Court on January 13, 2025.
- NOVEMBER 7, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: OVER 800 DEATH ROW SENTENCES COMMUTED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT UNDER NEW ACT
Eighteen people were sentenced to death in Malaysia between Jan 1 and Oct 14 this year.
- OCTOBER 23, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APEX COURT COMMUTES EX-FACTORY WORKERS’ DEATH SENTENCES
Malaysia’s Federal Court has commuted the death sentences of two former factory workers to 34 years in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane each, for the murder of an acquaintance 13 years ago.
- OCTOBER 16, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APEX COURT COMMUTES EX-SAWMILL WORKER’S DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE AND MURDER TO 40 YEARS IN PRISON
The Federal Court in Putrajaya on August 7, 2024 commuted the death sentence of a former sawmill worker to 40 years in prison for killing and raping a nurse nine years ago.
- OCTOBER 10, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF NAJIB’S FORMER BODYGUARD
Malaysia has commuted the death sentence of an ex-police guard of former premier Najib Razak, after the Southeast Asian country changed its law on capital punishment.
- OCTOBER 6, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES FOR SEVEN FILIPINOS
Malaysia’s Federal Court on October 2, 2024 upheld the death sentences of seven Filipino men, including a nephew of self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram, for waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) during the Lahad Datu in
- OCTOBER 3, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF MAN WHO KILLED MOTHER
The Putrajaya Court of Appeal on August 26, 2024 commuted the death sentence to 40 years in prison for a man who murdered his mother and dumped her body in a septic tank six years ago.
- JULY 31, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APPEALS COURT REINSTATES DEATH PENALTY FOR SIX EX-UPNM STUDENTS IN FATAL BULLYING CASE
The Court of Appeal has sent six former National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) cadets to the gallows for the murder of fellow cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain seven years ago, The Star reported on July 23, 2024.
JULY 22, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING ADOPTIVE PARENTS IN NILAI
A 45-year-old man was ordered to be sent to the gallows by the High Court in Seremban after he was found guilty of the double murders of his adoptive parents, The Star reported on July 4, 2024.
- JULY 18, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF ZARA’S MURDERER
The Federal Court on July 2, 2024 upheld the death sentence imposed on a former barber for the murder of an 11-month-old baby girl known as ‘Zara’ who suffered serious vaginal injuries due to sexual assault, six years ago.
- JULY 10, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT COMMUTES MAN'S DEATH SENTENCE TO 38 YEARS JAIL FOR MURDERING TRANSVESTITE
A former scrap metal dealer’s death sentence for killing a transvestite 15 years ago has been commuted to 38 years in jail by the Federal Court, Bernama reported on July 4, 2024.
JULY 8, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR INDONESIAN CLEANER’S MURDERER COMMUTED TO 35 YEARS JAIL
The Court of Appeal of Putrajaya on June 24, 2024 commuted the death sentence imposed on a 41-year-old man to 35 years in jail for murdering an Indonesian house cleaner in 2017 after she allegedly badmouthed him.