KUALA LUMPUR: The decision of the government to abolish the mandatory death sentence was among the issues discussed by Malaysia and Singapore yesterday, according to Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said this when commenting on the issue raised at a meeting with the Singapore Law and Home Minister K. Shanmugam at the Parliament Building yesterday.
“We told them that this (decision) is being considered that is abolishing the term mandatory death but the death sentence is still maintained and left to the discretion of the judge to hear such cases, before passing judgement according to the discretion of the court,” he told reporters.
The Bill to amend the mandatory death sentence is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in October.
Muhyiddin said the discussion also touched on the policy to no longer perceive the drug addict as a criminal offender that must be punished through decriminalisation.
“Not everyone who are in prison due to drug offences are seen as criminals. They probably have a disease and that is why we decided to deal with the matter from the aspect of welfare such as the treatment and if it had started, we will intensify the treatment,” he said.
Commenting further, Muhyiddin said his discussion with Shanmugam also touched on the issue of national border cooperation.
“I raised the border issue especially to create a single border force or central agency like the one in Singapore. So, we will cooperate in the matter.
“This is because Malaysia had made a decision to set up a body (Cabinet Committee To Study The Proposal On A Single Body To Look After The National Boundary And Entry Points Including Ports), like the one studied under the committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail,” he said. - Bernama
