In Malaysia capital crimes include murder...

In Malaysia capital crimes include murder, terrorist acts, treason, kidnapping, rape, armed robbery, burglary, military offences, drug trafficking and possession of arms.
The Penal Code, under Section 302, makes the penalty for murder mandatory death by hanging. Malaysia imposes mandatory death sentences for other offences like terrorism, and for poisoning of the water supply causing death.
The Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, at Section 39B on possessing and distributing drugs, also carries a mandatory death sentence. Possession of 200 grams of cannabis is enough to put one away for a 20-year life sentence. Trafficking in more than 200 grams of dangerous drugs carries a death sentence.
A 1961 law on kidnapping prescribes a life sentence or the death penalty preceded by a whipping.
In January 2003 the death penalty was instated as mandatory punishment for rapists who cause death and child rapists.
On March 6, 2007, a new amendment to the Malaysian penal code went into effect calling for the death penalty as a mandatory sentence for terrorist acts that cause death. Providing terrorists with ordinance, training, equipment or money, as well as offering terrorists refuge or hiding information concerning terrorists, all fall under the definition of a terrorist act. In investigating these crimes, police can process and arrest suspects without due process and there is no possibility of release on bail. In the event that the terrorist act does not cause death, the new law provides for prison terms ranging from 7 to 30 years.
The Malaysian High Courts only try criminal cases punishable with the death penalty. Death sentences issued by a High Court can be appealed at the Court of Appeal. If an appeal is unsuccessful a death row inmate can have resort to the Federal Court. The last resort is the State Pardons Board. The King alone is empowered to commute death sentences.
In general about two years pass between the passing of a death sentence and the execution of the person condemned. Some appeals processes however exceeded 10 years. According to recent reports in the semi-official newspaper New Straits Times, some prisoners who have been convicted of murder, drug trafficking and firearms possession offences have been held in prison for periods between 10 and 22 years.
According to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s reply to MP Liew Chin Tong’s question on 31 March 2011, 441 persons had been hanged since 1960. Of the 441 persons hanged, 228 were involved in drug trafficking and 78 were convicted for murder. Another 130 were for illegal possession of arms, while four more were convicted for waging war against the King. The remaining one was involved in kidnapping.
On 26 March 2012, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told the Parliament that a total of 860 prisoners have been sentenced to death for various offences such as murder, drug trafficking, firearms offences and kidnapping up to 28 February 2012. However, he said the sentences could not be carried out yet as the cases were still going through the appeal process. “Out of the number, 616 cases are still with the Appeals Court, 94 with the Federal Court and 150 with the Pardons Board,” he said in his written reply to Representative Liew Chin Tong.
In addition, 449 foreign nationals were held on remand while awaiting trial for offences which carry the mandatory death sentence, if convicted. Home Minister said of the number, 396 were charged with drug trafficking, 28 for murder, 18 for kidnapping and the seven others for firearms offences.
The carrying out of the death sentences is shrouded in secrecy, as dates of executions are not reported and details of those who have been or will be executed are not made public.
Under current Malaysian law and practices arrested persons have no immediate access to lawyers, no immediate right to a phone call and no right to full pre-trial disclosure.
In 2006, one execution took place in Malaysia. Before that, last execution was carried out on December 27, 2002, when three men were hanged at the Kajang prison.
The last execution to take place in Malaysia was in 2010 for murder. Amnesty International counted at least 108 new death sentences imposed in 2011.
In 2012, at least 80 new death sentences were issued for murder and drug trafficking. Some three-quarters of the sentences were imposed for drug-related offenses and an half of these involved foreign nationals, including 13 women.
On 13 October 2011, Nazri Abdul Aziz, the de facto law minister, said the government is “rethinking” the death penalty, but he stressed that it does not mean total abolishment yet. “Rethinking . . . the death penalty is part of the government’s effort to move ahead with the times for a more humane world,” he said at the seminar titled “The Abolition of the Death Penalty in Malaysia,” held in Kuala Lumpur by the Malaysian Bar Council together with the Delegation of the EU to Malaysia and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam). The campaign against capital punishment received a boost when in June the legislature set up a bipartisan group that also included representatives from the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Bar Council and the National Human Rights Commission to look into the issue. “The Attorney General’s Chambers made public for the first time its policy decision not to enact (a) new law that carries the death penalty. The chamber is also considering whether the death penalty should be abolished entirely or partially. There are also discussions about a middle path approach to remove the mandatory death sentence and return discretion to the judges,” Nazri said. The June meeting targeted the penalties on drug offenses that they said should not be classified as a “most serious crime” that justifies capital punishment. The meeting also agreed on a resolution to call on the government to impose a moratorium on imposing the death penalty while a thorough review is being conducted.
On 28 March 2012, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said the Government has no immediate plans to abolish the death penalty, insisting that Malaysia still needs the punishment as a deterrent for serious crimes. Nazri said, however, that the proposal to remove the provision would be considered but only after a thorough review is conducted. “This is needed because the scrapping of the death penalty or natural life imprisonment sentences would greatly impact the Country’s legal system,” he said in a written response to Karpal Singh, Chairman of the Democratic Action Party and member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor. Explaining further, Nazri said it was appropriate to maintain the death penalty to deter serious offences like murder, drug trafficking and other crimes involving firearms, ammunition and explosives.
On 14 July 2012, The Malay Mail reported that the Attorney-General was considering giving judges discretionary powers in deciding whether to award the death penalty to drug mules convicted of trafficking. The move followed Malaysia’s southern neighbour, Singapore, which on 9 July announced its intention to ease its strict sentencing structure to give judges more leeway to deal with certain drug and murder cases. Malaysia and Singapore, which share similar justice systems, are among countries that still dispense mandatory death sentences for offences like drug trafficking and murder. “We are getting advice from law experts throughout the world regarding drug laws and how are they applied in their country,” Tan Sri Gani Patail was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The planned amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, if seen through, may also mean a new lease on life for those previously condemned. “Those on death row would be referred back to the courts, with legal representation, to be re-sentenced,” he was quoted further.
This is actually only another step in the process that the country has gradually been taking towards lessening its use of the death penalty. In its 2009 Universal Periodic Review report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Malaysia had declared that it was proposing to amend "existing anti-drug trafficking legislation to reduce the maximum sentence to life imprisonment" from the current mandatory death penalty, that gives no leeway for the justice system to differentiate between a mule and a lord.
One of the reasons that could soften the stance of the government toward the death penalty, particularly for drug trafficking, is the fact that there has been an increasing number of Malaysian drug mules caught overseas. According to the police, between 2007 and 2010, there were 239 Malaysians languishing in foreign jails after being caught with drugs. The government has often been called to intervene, especially when the detainees are faced with the death sentence like the case of Yong Vui Kong, who was only 18 when he was arrested for drug trafficking in Singapore in 2007.
On December 20, 2012, Malaysia voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.