690 sentenced to hang for murder since 2000, Dewan Rakyat told

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 690 people were sentenced to death for murder since 2000, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

"Prisons Department records from that year up to Jan 31 of this year show that 2,350 inmates were charged for offences which carry the death sentence.

"Of this total, 690 (29.36%) were for offences under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder," he said in a written reply to Teresa Kok (PH-Seputeh) in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Feb 22).

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Saifuddin noted that 1,589 (67.62%) of those sentenced to death were drug traffickers convicted under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

"Thirteen inmates, or 0.55%, were convicted for the offence of waging war against the King under Section 121 of the Penal Code," he added.

He said 31 (1.32%) were sentenced to death under the Firearms Act for discharging weapons while five (0.21%) were convicted under the then-Internal Security Act for possession of firearms without lawful authority.

Saifuddin added that 19(0.81%) inmates were sentenced to death for kidnapping and three for gang robbery.

He noted that 194 (8.26%) inmates had sought Royal pardons or pardons from the state.

On a separate matter, Saifuddin said there were more than 150 deaths involving foreigners under the custody of the Immigration Department last year.

The number comprised 121 men, 25 women, five boys and two girls.

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Saifuddin said there were 11 cases of deaths in police lockups last year.

Of the figure, nine were Malays, one was Chinese and another was a foreigner, he added.

Throughout last year, Saifuddin said the Prisons Department recorded the deaths of nine men.

“Two inmates were in the 30-39 age bracket, four in 50-59, and three 60-69," he told Chow Yu Hui (PH-Raub), who asked about the breakdown of deaths of detainees in police lockups, prisons and Immigration depots.