KUALA LUMPUR: The Special Committee to Review Alternative Sentences to the Mandatory Death Penalty has submitted its report containing recommendations on the matter to the government, yesterday.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong (pix) said the former Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum presented the findings of its comprehensive study contained in the 128-page report to him.

“My office is now studying the contents of the official report as well as the recommendations made by the special committee. In the coming weeks, a Cabinet paper on the findings and recommendations will be tabled before Cabinet for its deliberation.

“All further actions and decisions in respect to the official report and the recommendations therein will be based on a collective Cabinet decision on the matter,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Liew said the special committee held several town halls and public consultations across the country with all segments of society in four months since it began its study on Sept 20, 2019, and concluded on Jan 31, 2020.

Among various public engagements were government and enforcement agencies, religious groups, non-governmental organisations, families of prisoners on death row, prisoners on death row, families of the victims, government and opposition Members of Parliament.

“International experts across the globe including from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom were also consulted.

“I express my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the government of Malaysia to the special committee for their outstanding effort in reviewing alternative sentences to the mandatory death penalty. It was no easy task,” he said.

Liew also said that the official report was a significant study bound to alter the landscape of the nation’s entire criminal sentencing policy as the government moves to abolish the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia. — Bernama