I beg your pardon, Your Highness

Turning over a new leaf: After his pardon, Rev David Wang (standing) counsels drug addicts at a rehabilitation centre which he founded. Photo: ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG

For rehabilitated prisoners on death row, commuting their sentence to life imprisonment can allow them to rise from the ashes.

WHEN David Wang walked through the doors of Selangor’s Kajang prison in April 1998, he said to himself, “Goodbye. I won’t see you again.”

Wang had been arrested for trafficking in heroin in Terengganu in 1984 and sentenced to death by the Kuala Terengganu High Court in 1989.

After his last appeal to the Federal Court was rejected in 1996, Wang wrote to the then Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah.

Two years later, he was brought out of his cell on death row and a letter from the Terengganu Pardons Board was read to him. In conjunction with his birthday, the Sultan had commuted Wang’s death sentence to life imprisonment (which was then 20 years; it is now 30 years).

The 14 years he had spent in prison since his arrest were taken into account. That meant he had served more than two-thirds of his sentence and was released early for good behaviour.

A fortnight later, in May, Wang heard that the Sultan of Terengganu had died. “I thought the person who died should have been me, not the Sultan,” he says.

Grateful for his release from prison, “it is by the grace of God and the Sultan”, he went to seminary, became the pastor of a church in Johor and set up a rehabilitation centre that has helped over 30 addicts quit the habit, learn new skills and secure jobs.

That was the impact of a Sultan’s decision to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment. In such cases, prisoners are discharged after they have served the required time.

And when a Ruler grants a full royal pardon, the result is even more dramatic. It brings all legal punishment for the offence to an end immediately, including any disqualifications, and wipes the slate clean.

As Andrew Khoo, co-chairman of the Bar Council Human Rights Committee explains, “A pardon affects pension rights, political office and other natural consequences which are erased if a full pardon is granted.”

The impact, he adds, is felt not just by the prisoner but also by the prisoner’s family and friends, who may have been affected by the stigma of the conviction. The full pardon not only clears his or her name, but relieves the family of “society’s negative perceptions”.

Outgoing Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam tells prisoners that a full pardon is “a chance to turn over a new leaf. You have a chance to go out to prove yourself, to have a life again and perhaps help others in a similar situation.”

The King, Sultan or Governor has the power to grant a full pardon, to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment, to shorten a jail sentence, or to delay the execution of a sentence.

Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam tells prisoners a full pardon is a chance to prove themselves, and to help others.

Granting a pardon “is not a normal, administrative decision,” notes a spokesman from the Selangor Pardons Board secretariat. “It is at the mercy of the Sultan. You can say it is like a bonus. He is going to spare your life, or shorten your period of detention.”

In March this year, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said

that of the 829 prisoners convicted and sentenced to death between 2010 and 2016, 95 were pardoned or given reprieves after submitting appeals to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, rulers or state governors, while 12 were executed.

When charged with a crime, like Wang, a person goes through the court process and, when sentenced, has the right of appeal all the way up to the Federal Court. After this process is exhausted, the sentence must be served.

“However, if they are not acquitted of the charge, there is still one final stage for a possible pardon through the state Pardons Board,” points out Datuk Ismail Karim, Johor state secretary and secretary of the Johor Pardons Board.

According to Kenneth Wong, who was director of Malaysian Care’s Prison, Drugs and AIDS Department until this year, about 90% of prisoners are in jail for less than a year.

But those found guilty of kidnapping or possession of fire arms are given natural life sentences, also known as life until death. And, adds Wong, who is now Malaysian Care’s policy, advocacy and research director, some prisoners have been on death row for more than 20 years.

Bar Council’s Andrew Khoo says a royal pardon has an impact on the prisoner and his family and friends.

A Prisons Department official says the prisons automatically send in petitions for all inmates after sentencing, even for those who are serving short sentences.

Under Section 113 of the Prisons Regulations, prisoners can petition for a pardon “as soon as practicable” after sentencing, three years after that and every two years after that, “unless there are any special circumstances” which the Officer-in-Charge considers should be brought to the notice of the Ruler.

And under Section 114 of the Prisons Regulations, a prisoner on death row “may freely petition” the Ruler for a pardon. However, in written replies to an earlier interview, the Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) under the de facto Minister of Law in the Prime Minister’s Office said that prisoners sentenced to death could only appeal once.

An appeal for pardon is channelled to the Pardons Board in the state or Federal Territory where it was committed.

The power of pardon is spelled out under Article 42 in the Federal Constitution, while Sections 113 and 114 of the Prisons Regulations set out the procedures.

But how it all works can vary from state to state, while details and statistics are hard to come by. (See sidebar.)

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia has been trying to get more information on the pardons process, such as when and how it meets, says Nayagam: “We are not given any answers and are not getting anywhere. It is very frustrating, as we are referred back and forth between the Attorney-General’s Chambers and BHEUU.

For the past two years, we have not been given the meetings we have asked for.”

Back in 2009, Suhakam had reported that only the Pardons Boards in Selangor and Federal Territory met regularly, while some prisoners had been on death row for up to 14 years because nobody could confirm if they were to be executed or if their death sentences had been commuted to life imprisonment.

The Selangor spokesman stresses that there are no fixed dates for the Pardons Board to meet. Dates are fixed at the pleasure of the Sultan.

But, he adds, if there is a long delay after the final Federal Court decision due to a delay in the sitting of the Pardons Board, “There will be a strong suggestion by the Attorney-General’s Chamber to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment.”

Today, Rev Wang advises the families of prisoners, especially those sentenced to death, and urges them to petition for a royal pardon. “Don’t give up,” he tells them. “Make it clear why you are appealing.”

And if he could address the Pardons Boards, he would tell them, “Give death row prisoners a chance. They are people who, because of money, made mistakes. If they had a second chance they would become useful citizens.”

He would point to himself as an example: “I was a drug trafficker before,” Rev Wang says. “I was pardoned and now I am helping others who are in a similar situation.”