Press Statement
Government must immediately impose nationwide moratorium upon carrying out of whipping sentences pending probe into death of prisoner Zaidi Abd Hamid
11 October 2024
We refer to the shocking news that a prisoner, Zaidi Abd Hamid, has died in prison on 7.10.2024 due to whipping punishment carried out on him.
Zaidi Abd Hamid, whose death sentence was commuted to imprisonment of 33 years, would have had the chance to be released after serving his sentence. It is sickening that his second chance at life was lost due to the effects of the whipping that he had to endure. He escaped the gallows, only to die unlawfully and brutally by the rattan cane.
To date, the Home Minister and the government have remained silent over Zaidi’s death. This is callous and irresponsible. This indifference is unjust and cruel to the family of Zaidi. They are entitled to answers.
Why was Zaidi allowed to undergo the whipping in the first place, considering that he is reported to be suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes? In an attempt to exonerate themselves, the prisons department claims that Zaidi was declared fit after a comprehensive medical assessment before the whipping was carried out. But then why is Zaidi dead from the whipping? The brute facts belie the prison department’s excuses.
Considering his illness, the whipping should not have been carried out at all. There is an abject failure of duty of the Medical Officer in the prisons department, who is responsible under section 290 of the Criminal Procedure Code to ascertain an offender should be in a fit state of health to undergo the caning.
The death of Zaidi highlights the larger problem regarding the punishment of whipping in our criminal justice system. It is a barbaric and archaic punishment that is designed to inflict extreme pain and suffering upon offender. It was introduced into Malaya in the 19th century by the British colonial power. Why have successive Malaysian governments since independence clung to this horrendous colonial relic?
Despite the precautions that are supposedly in place, death can still occur due to the traumatic injuries that the whipping inflicts and the medical complications that come with it, as in the case of Zaidi. What sense or need is there then for whipping, which brings with it the risk of death, to be maintained in our criminal justice system? Surely, the punish of imprisonment is adequate to ensure public safety from serious crime.
The government has a duty under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution to ensure that life and liberty of every person be protected, and this right extends equally to prisoners. Those who are not sentenced to death must be protected from any and all possibilities of death whilst they are in custody of the State. It is obvious that whilst the punishment of whipping is in place, the government is gambling with the lives of these prisoners, and the hopes of their families awaiting their release.
We urge the government to do a thorough probe into all the circumstances of the death of Zaidi. The system that failed Zaidi must be fixed.
We further call for the government to immediately impose a moratorium on the carrying out of existing whipping sentences against prisoners throughout Malaysia, pending the probe into the circumstances that led to Zaidi’s death.
Meanwhile, we strongly urge the government, which says it is reformist, to abolish the punishment of whipping, which is barbaric, inhuman and potentially fatal. It is high time that our country turns away from brutal penal punishments and invests instead on rehabilitation of prisoners.
Issued by:
Zaid Malek
Director
Lawyers for Liberty