Does Malaysia Have the Political Will to Abolish the Death Penalty?

Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian man with mental disabilities convicted for drug trafficking, was executed by the Singaporean government on 27th April 2022. This happened despite protests and public pressure both online and offline in Malaysia and Singapore and letters from Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. 

On top of that, Singapore will be executing another Malaysian man, Datchinamurthy Kataiah, on 29 April 2022 over trafficking 44.96g of diamorphine into the city-state.

A lot has been said over the past few weeks about the Singapore government’s ruthlessness and lack of compassion and empathy. Calls for the Singapore government to abolish the death penalty is said to be at an all time high. 

However, criticising our neighbours is one thing. We also have to reflect on where we, Malaysians, are when it comes to the death penalty. While we do have a moratorium in place, the law has not been abolished. 

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