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
- 972
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 972 news items on Malaysia, from 1999 to today.
In Malaysia the death penalty was mandatory for certain offences, among them drug trafficking. A reform in 2023 abolished that mandatory character and opened the review of sentences already handed down, many of which have been commuted. The method is hanging.
The archive follows the reform, the reviews and the cases still open.
Latest news
- JULY 5, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On July 5, Deputy Home Minister Azmi Khalid, speaking...
On July 5, Deputy Home Minister Azmi Khalid, speaking after flagging off and taking part in an "Anti-Dadah Walkathon," said: "When the death penalty was introduced in the early 1980s, many called it 'barbaric' but today even the United Nations and the Uni
- JULY 1, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
In July, the celebrated Sheikh of al-Azhar University,...
In July, the celebrated Sheikh of al-Azhar University, the late Mahmud Shaltut who was esteemed for his vast knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and Koranic interpretation, wrote that many ulama (doctors of law) are in agreement that hudud [Koranic punishm
- JUNE 25, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 25, the Federal Court of Malaysia unanimously...
On June 25, the Federal Court of Malaysia unanimously affirmed the conviction of 3 Nigerians - Johnson Oshodi, 34, civil servant Tunde Apatira, 37, and businessman Oladotun Lukmanu Umaru, 37 - sentenced to death for trafficking in heroin nine years ago
- JUNE 17, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 17, a 17-year-old Indonesian was charged in...
On June 17, a 17-year-old Indonesian was charged in a juvenile court with murdering two youths earlier in the month
- JUNE 12, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 12, Federal narcotics department director Salleh...
On June 12, Federal narcotics department director Salleh Mat Som said police arrested 1,226 suspected traffickers during various operations nationwide between January and the first week of June, this year
- APRIL 13, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On April 13, Malaysia's highest court upheld the death...
On April 13, Malaysia's highest court upheld the death sentence on a witch doctor Maznah Ismail, better known by her alias Mona Fandey, and on her husband and their assistant
- MARCH 19, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On March 19, Singapore hanged two Malaysians and a...
On March 19, Singapore hanged two Malaysians and a Singaporean for drug trafficking
- MARCH 1, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
In March, Judge Alauddin Mohamed Sheriff from the High...
In March, Judge Alauddin Mohamed Sheriff from the High Court of Alor Setar, a town in the northern state of Kedah, condemned to death Kouame Koffi Francis, 35, from Côte d'Ivoire under the Dangerous Drugs Act for having more than 1
- MARCH 1, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On March 1, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Abu...
On March 1, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman said the Health Ministry will not consider a long-standing proposal raised in the early 1970s, when the wish of death-row inmate Wong Siew Chin, aka Botak Chin, to donate his organs could n
- FEBRUARY 4, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On February 4, Presiding Judge Tan Sri Lamin Yunus...
On February 4, Presiding Judge Tan Sri Lamin Yunus of the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and death sentence pronounced by the High Court against Che Omar, 35
- JANUARY 1, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by various laws
The death penalty is provided for by various laws
- JANUARY 1, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Malaysia shocked the world when in July 1986 it hanged...
Malaysia shocked the world when in July 1986 it hanged two Australian citizens for trafficking in heroin