Legal reforms to abolish the mandatory death penalty for some offences have been passed on Monday, by Malaysia’s lower house.
The modifications would now apply to 34 offences currently punishable by death.
This also includes murder and drug trafficking while 11 of them carry it as a mandatory punishment.
The country put a pause on executions since 2018, but courts have continued to send convicts to death row.
With the amendments to some existing death penalty will now attract whipping and imprisonment of 30 to 40 years.
The lawmakers also agreed that capital punishment would be removed as an option for some serious crimes that do not cause death, such as kidnapping and the discharging and trafficking of firearms.
Deputy Law Minister, Ramkarpal Singh said capital punishment was an irreversible punishment that had not been an effective deterrent for crime.
