BY NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS & JAMES WONG
KUCHING: Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, the Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, said the abolition of the mandatory death penalty provides a second chance for those who are convicted.
“It’s about giving them a second chance to change and become a better person.
“I hope prisons would conduct programmes to get prisoners to repent and once they get out of the prison, they can start a new beginning,” she said told reporters during a courtesy call by Swinburne University staff at the Baitul Makmur II building here today.
She was asked on the recent bill that was passed by Dewan Rakyat yesterday (April 3) to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
Asked on the type of programme ex-prisoners should undergo, Fatimah said the focus should be on the support system.
“Of course it is a difficult for them to secure a job after they get out of prison, so we should focus on holistic programmes.
“These holistic programmes would include sewing, culinary and even landscaping,” she added.
She said her ministry provided small grants for ex-prisoners to start a business.
“From there, they can use their skills and knowledge to start their small business and pursue their passion,” she added.
The Dewan Rakyat yesterday unanimously passed a bill to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill 2023, tabled for its second and third reading by Deputy Minister of Law and Institutional Reform Ramkarpal Singh, proposed to give judges discretionary powers to mete out sentence.
The bill also gives judges the option to impose jail terms of up to 40 years in place of the mandatory death penalty.
