The Palace of Justice building, which houses Malaysia’s Court of Appeal and Federal Court, in Putrajaya

MALAYSIA: OVER 800 DEATH ROW SENTENCES COMMUTED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT UNDER NEW ACT

November 7, 2024:

Eighteen people were sentenced to death in Malaysia between Jan 1 and Oct 14 this year.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman said, in a written Parliamentary reply, 866 people had their death sentences commuted to jail terms.
Of that number, 52 people had their sentences commuted at the appeal stage.
She was responding to a question from Ramkarpal Singh (PH- Bukit Gelugor) on the number of people sentenced to death this year and the number of sentences commuted in the same period.
Azalina said the other 814 people who had their sentences commuted applied for a review under the Review of Death Penalty and Life Imprisonment Act (Federal Court Temporary Jurisdiction) which came into force on Sept 12, 2023.
Azalina noted that 18 individuals received new death sentences — 12 from the High Court and six from the Court of Appeal.