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BANGKOK – The case of Muhammad Lukman Mohamad sparked outrage in August when he was sentenced to death in Malaysia for selling cannabis oil for medical purposes to patients with Cancer.
Even the country's new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, called for a re-examination of the 29-year-old father's sentence.
Now, Mr. Mahathir's government goes even further by completely eliminating the death penalty.
"All death sentences will be abolished. The country's justice minister, Liew Vui Keong, told reporters this week.
The government is also preparing to repeal the sedition law passed in the colonial era, which had been used by previous governments to silence critics and opposition politicians. Gobind Singh, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, said Thursday that the use of the law should be suspended immediately, pending its repeal.
"The cabinet decided yesterday that to the extent that we would abolish the law on sedition, the action under this law should be suspended temporarily," he told reporters.
Parliament should consider measures repealing these two laws in the coming weeks.
About 1,200 people, many of whom have been convicted of drug-related offenses, are on death row in Malaysia. The government imposed a moratorium on executions in July.
Amnesty International said the decision to end the death penalty was "a big step forward for all those who campaigned for the death penalty to be abolished in Malaysia".
Abolishing the death penalty and repealing the sedition law were included in the election platform of Mahathir's coalition, Pakatan Harapan, but the measures adopted received little attention during the recent election campaign.
Ending the death penalty could help investigate the possible role of Mr. Najib in the 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu, by her bodyguards. While the bodyguards were sentenced, the authorities hope to know who gave the orders.
Ms. Altantuya participated in the negotiation of the purchase of French submarines by Malaysia, a transaction that remains under review and could be investigated. She stated that she owed him $ 500,000 for helping to negotiate the deal.
Sirul Azhar Umar, a person convicted of his murder, has fled to Australia, where he is currently detained for immigrants. He offered to help the new Malaysian government in his investigation, but Australia refused to fire him because he was reportedly sentenced to death in Malaysia.
Ensuring the return of Mr. Sirul was not the object of the abolition of the death penalty, but a secondary benefit, "said Ramkarpal Singh, MP and brother of Mr. Gobind.
"Now, the Australian government has to send him back," he said. "They have no reason to keep it once it's abolished."
Malaysia's action to end the death penalty goes against the grain in South-East Asia, where some countries execute people convicted of trafficking even relatively small amounts of narcotics.
Only two countries in the region, Cambodia and the Philippines, have banned the death penalty. And Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has encouraged the extrajudicial executions of thousands of consumers and drug addicts, is currently working to restore legal executions.
In Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for murder, drug trafficking, treason and war against the king.
The case of Mr. Mohamad, the cannabis oil salesman, has helped draw attention to the unfairness of imposing a mandatory death sentence in drug trafficking cases. even when it was selling relatively small quantities, said Mr Ramkarpal, who has long opposed death penalty.
During his trial, Mr. Mohamad testified that he had sold cannabis oil to patients with a life-threatening illness.
"Cases like this have made it clear that the mandatory death penalty should disappear," Ramkarpal said.
Follow Richard C. Paddock on Twitter: @RCPaddock.
Sharon Tan contributed to the reportage of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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