KUALA LUMPUR – Citing its inhumane nature, a government lawmaker has called for the abolishment of corporal punishment meted out by civil courts as part of a criminal sentence.
Hassan Abdul Karim (Pasir Gudang-PH) said that, as a lawyer, he has witnessed such caning being performed on prisoners, which he claimed to be extremely painful to the point of injuring.
“It’s so painful that some prisoners would rather add to their term of imprisonment, as long as they don’t get caned,” he said when debating the government’s bid to abolish the mandatory death penalty in Parliament here today.
The bill was later passed via a simple voice vote.
“I see that the corporal punishments in civil courts are very sadistic, primitive and inhumane.
“So, apart from only abolishing the mandatory death penalty, I hope caning imposed by the civil court will also eventually be eliminated. If not now, include it as part of the government’s reformation.”
Noting Hassan’s particular reference to the civil courts, PAS Youth chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Pasir Mas-PN) then asked if the PKR lawmaker agreed with shariah caning, which is known to be much less painful and serve more as education.
“Does this mean that the caning imposed by the shariah court hurts the body less? I’m asking this because some quarters opine that it is uncivilised. Can you comment?”
To this, Hassan said he has no issue with shariah caning, but that his focus lies solely on corporal punishment imposed by civil courts.
Later, in his winding up speech, Deputy Law and Institutional Reform Minister Ramkarpal Singh said this matter would be considered in the future for improvement. – The Vibes, April 3, 2023
