There Is A Change In The Provision Of The Death Penalty In Malaysia, The Indonesian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Prepares Assistance For 77 Indonesian Citizens To Get Relief

Dir. PWNI Kemlu Judha Nugraha. (ANTARA/Yashinta Difa)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will prepare legal assistance for Indonesian citizens (WNI) so that they can get leniency, along with changes in the provisions of the death penalty in Malaysia, said the Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

Malaysia's State Council or the upper house of parliament on April 11 passed two draft laws reforming the country's death penalty, quoted from the Human Rights Watch website, Friday, September 29.

On June 16, 2023, the Malaysian Government has enacted two mandatory death penalty removal laws, namely: Act 846 Abolition of Mandateary Death Penality Act 2023, and Act 847 Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.

"There are 77 Indonesian citizens who are eligible who have legal force who are still sentenced to death or life imprisonment, to be reviewed in line with the enactment of the new law," said Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha Nugraha in a press statement on Friday, September 29.

In the new law, Malaysia retains the death penalty for 33 offenses, as well as abolishing mandatory death penalty for 12 types of offenses, including drug trafficking, murder, eating, and terrorism. It also completely abolishes the death penalty as an option for seven offenses, including attempted murder and kidnapping. Later, the death penalty and life sentence imposed will be replaced with a prison sentence of between 30-40 years.

"Of the 77 Indonesian citizens who are eligible, 61 are in Semananjung covering Kuala Lumpur and around, 8 are in Kinabalu, 6 are in Kuching and 2 are in Tawau," said Judha.

"We will appoint a lawyer for legal assistance, so that we can get a reduced sentence to imprisonment of between 30-40 years," explained Judha.

Judha further explained that a total of 157 Indonesian citizens were threatened with the death penalty in Malaysia. Meanwhile, globally, there are a total of 168 Indonesian citizens, including 4 Indonesian citizens in the UAE, 3 Indonesian citizens in Saudi Arabia, 3 Indonesian citizens in Laos and 1 Indonesian citizen in Vietnam.

"Of the type of error, the majority are related to drugs (110 cases) and murder (58)," explained Judha.

He added that from 2011 to 2022, a total of 519 Indonesian citizens were successfully released from the threat of the death penalty.

Meanwhile, last year, 22 Indonesian citizens were successfully released from the death penalty. However, there were an additional 25 new cases.

"This is a wake-up call, case handling cannot be separated from prevention. Prevention must be strengthened," said Judha.