SHAH ALAM, Nov 14 — There will be no parole for those who commit heinous crimes such as murder, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said today.
Speaking to the press, Liew said since the death penalty is in the process of being abolished, those found guilty of committing such crimes will be sentenced to spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars.
“For those who commit drug-related offences, they will face life imprisonment (30 years), while those found committing heinous crimes — like the suspect who killed the 11-month-old baby recently — will not be allowed parole and they will never be able to mingle with the rest of us again (for the rest of their natural lives),” said Liew.
Earlier during his lecture at UITM’s Town Hall meeting called ‘Abolish the Death Penalty’, the de facto law minister also said the Cabinet had taken a collective decision to abolish the death penalty and anyone contradicting that was speaking on a personal level.
“The decision has been made by Cabinet. I am the minister to carry out the various tasks and to comply with the decision of the Cabinet. It is called collective ministerial responsibility, a decision made by the entire Cabinet.
“An individual minister can disagree with the policy despite the fact that it may not be popular or the individual minister may have a private view on the policy; it is his private view. But he cannot go against the decision made by the Cabinet collective,” he said.
When asked about calls made by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to review the abolishment of the death penalty, Liew said the Cabinet will have another round of discussions on the matter.
“I spoke to the deputy prime minister this morning. She said to me the decision made by the Cabinet is a collective decision, it is a collective responsibility where all Cabinet ministers have agreed to it.
“At this stage, the decision made on October 10 to abolish the death penalty stands,” said Liew.
