Press releases
Malaysia: 'secret' execution planned for tomorrow
‘For Malaysia to try to carry out executions in near-total secrecy is shameful’ - Hazel Galang-Folli
The Malaysian authorities must immediately halt plans to carry a “secret” execution tomorrow, Amnesty International has said.
Amnesty has learned that the Malaysian authorities plan to execute a death row prisoner called Chandran on Friday, a man who has been imprisoned for murder for the past 11 years.
In contravention of international law, Chandran’s death sentence was imposed mandatorily, giving the judge no chance to consider mitigating circumstances in the case. A review of Malaysia’s mandatory laws was announced in 2012.
Generally, executions have been carried out in Malaysia in a secretive manner, without prior or posthumous announcements. Amnesty is pointing out that transparency on the use of the death penalty is an essential safeguard in death penalty cases, as it not only allows for informed and meaningful debates on the issue but also allows for the possibility of appeals to ensure that due process is followed.
Amnesty International’s Malaysia researcher Hazel Galang-Folli said:“For Malaysia to try to carry out executions in near-total secrecy is shameful - the government is essentially trying to hide its human rights violations from the world. Chandran’s family was informed only yesterday, and they are at a complete loss as to what they can do.“The execution of Chandran would be an enormous step backwards on human rights for Malaysia - the authorities must put a stop to these plans immediately.“What makes this even more shocking is that we had actually seen some progress on the death penalty in Malaysia over the past years, with moves to limit mandatory death sentences.”
Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. The organisation urges Malaysia to halt all plans for executions, commute existing death sentences and put in place a moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a first step towards abolition.