Malaysia to abolish the death penalty for all crime

Malaysia's Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has agreed to abolish death penalty for all crimes and halt pending executions.

• This decision was taken in pursuance of strong domestic opposition to colonial practice for being barbarous and unimaginably cruel which has put terrible stain on the country's human rights record.
• It is also in line with a move away from capital punishment in the rest of the world.

Details:

• Currently capital punishment in Malaysia is mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms, treason and drug trafficking, among other crimes.
• The death penalty in Malaysia is exclusively carried out by hanging and has been a legacy of British colonial rule.
• More than 1200 people are on death row in Malaysia.

One must know that:

• At present, the sentence of death penalty has been abolished in 103 countries, while penalty of capital punishment is still in 56 countries.
• There are still provisions for capital punishment in countries like China, India, America, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan and Sri Lanka.
• United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution in 62nd session in 2007 to impose universal restrictions on the death penalty.

Question:

Q. Which country's Cabinet chaired by its Prime Minister has agreed to abolish death penalty for all crimes and halt pending executions?
a. Sri Lanka
b. Nepal
c. Germany
d. Malaysia