00:00The federal court has dismissed review applications by three prisoners seeking to set aside their whipping sentences, ruling that the
00:08punishment is constitutional.
00:10In a two-to-one majority decision on Wednesday, Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Saleh and Chief Judge of
00:17Sabah and Sarawak Aziza Nawawi formed the majority, while federal court judge Lee Sui Seng dissented.
00:24The applicants, Mohamed Helmi Anuar Mohamed Qasim, Kumanan Anthony Vincent and J. Sivachandran, had argued that Caning violated their constitutional
00:35rights to life and equality before the law under Articles 5, Subsection 1 and 8, Subsection 1 of the federal
00:42constitution, and cited the risk of death in reference to a past case involving an inmate.
00:49Justice Wan Ahmad said whipping does not fall within the scope of cruel, oppressive or degrading punishment in the constitutional
00:57sense, adding that it does not deprive a person of life in the same manner as the death penalty and
01:04therefore does not breach Article 5, Subsection 1.
01:07He said it is for Parliament to determine the appropriateness of such punishments and that the judiciary should not substitute
01:15its own moral views for legislative policy.
01:18He also ruled that the applicants had failed to present medical evidence showing they were unfit to undergo caning or
01:26that it would pose a risk of death.
01:29In his dissent, Justice Lee held that whipping is unconstitutional as it violates the right to life, dignity and equal
01:38protection under the law,
01:39saying the manner in which caning is carried out could result in long-term physical harm, including permanent disability affecting
01:48a prisoner's ability to work and support their family.
01:52The three applicants were previously sentenced to death for drug trafficking and murder before their sentences were commuted to 30
02:01years' imprisonment under the revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life Act 2023, along with caning.
02:11Mohamed Helmi and Kumanan were each sentenced to 24 strokes of the cane, while Siva Chandran received 12 strokes.
02:26Mohamed Helmi and Kumanan received 12th of the
Comments