Five sentenced to death in Malaysia

A Malaysian court on Thursday sentenced to death three Mexican brothers and two other people for drug trafficking, rejecting the defence argument that evidence was tampered with. The death sentence is the mandatory penalty for drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Malaysia's government said last year it had hanged more than 440 people in the past 50 years, many of them for drug crimes, while some 700 are on death row.

“This death sentence is a kind of deterrent, they say, but it has been seen over-and-over again that this has not deterred people,” said Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Herald, Malaysia’s largest Catholic weekly.

He told Vatican Radio the Church is trying to change attitudes about the death penalty in Malaysia.

“It is important for us to stand up and again and again say the death penalty should be abolished,” he said.

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