MALAYSIA: NO REVIEW OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

April 4, 2011: there are no plans to review the law on capital punishment, Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.
According to Hussein, 441 persons were hanged since 1960. As of on Feb 22 this year, another 696 are waiting for execution of their death sentences in Malaysian prisons. "Capital punishment is only for crimes that directly put our country's security and sovereignty at risk," he said.
Of the 441 persons hanged, 228 were involved in drug trafficking and 78 were convicted for murder.
Another 130 were for illegal processions of arms, while four more were convicted for waging war against the King. The remaining one was involved in kidnapping.
Among those awaiting the gallows, 479 convicts were involved in drug trafficking, 204 in murders and 13 in illegal processions of arms.
Some of them are in the process of appealing to overturn their convictions and sentences, while several others are seeking pardons from the Pardon Board of respective states.
Among them, 676 are males while 20 are females, while some 90 percent are between 21 and 50 years old. (Sources: New Straits Times, 05/04/2011; freemalaysiatoday.com, 03/04/2011)