THE government seems to be more concerned about protecting the interests of hardcore criminals than the victims by wanting to abolish the death penalty, said former top cop Musa Hassan.

Speaking at a forum on the death penalty today, the former inspector-general of police said he was concerned with the government’s act to abolish death penalty.

He said the public should question if it is safe that perpetrators of heinous crimes are released.

“I am very concerned that the government is so keen and in a hurry to protect the interests of criminals.

“There will be repercussions and it will cause harm to the public,” he told a roundtable discussion titled “Does the Discretionary Death Penalty Work?” in Kuala Lumpur today.

Musa said that the death penalty should be maintained to ensure the public interest and national security is protected and prioritised.

“It is the duty of government to ensure justice. But it seems our government is concerned only with criminals, not victims.

“This should not be the case, as it is the government’s duty to protect the people first, not the minority of prisoners,” he said.

He added that the death penalty should be applied to heinous crimes such as those that involve loss of lives.

“The police have to investigate properly and find evidence that the suspect has committed a crime. This is to ensure that the court can execute the death penalty sentence on the suspect,” he said.

Aminuddin Yahya, the secretariat head of Malay-Muslim group Ummah, said the abolition of the death penalty is against shariah law, as one should be subjected to the penalty if there is evidence that he has murdered someone.

“This is not revenge, this is about justice.

“Surprisingly, these people (rights activists) are looking after the criminals and not the victims. They sympathise with the criminals more than the victims.

“Can you imagine how traumatising it is for the family of the victims?” he said.

Also present was the brother of slain deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais, Richard Morais, lawyer Christina Teng, and a member of the coalition against the abolition of the death penalty, Heng Zhi Li.

In October, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong said the death penalty will be abolished for all criminal offences which currently provide for it.

Liew said the decision to abolish the death penalty was the collective decision of the cabinet. A moratorium on all executions has also been imposed. – March 22, 2019.