The Death Penalty in Malaysia: Public opinion on the mandatory drug trafficking, murder and firearm offences

By Roger Hood / The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2013

This study reports the findings of a major public opinion survey of the views of a representative sample of 1,535 Malaysian citizens on this issue. A large majority said they were in favour of the death penalty, whether mandatory or discretionary: 91% for murder, 74 to 80% for drug trafficking depending on the drug concerned, and 83% for firearms offences. Concerning the mandatory death penalty, a majority of 56% said they were in favour of it for murder, but only between 25% and 44% for drug trafficking and 45% for firearms offences. When asked to say what sentences they would themselves impose on a series of ‘scenario’ cases, all of which were subject to a mandatory death sentence, a large gap was found between the level of support ‘in theory’ and the level of support when faced with the ‘reality

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Capital offences, Public opinion, Retribution, Trend Towards Abolition, Innocence, Mandatory Death Penalty,