KUALA LUMPUR: Caning has been effective in deterring repeat offenders, Putrajaya said yesterday in defending its corporal punishment policy.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi referred to the caning sentence for illegal agents of foreign workers, saying it was found to be more effective than levelling fines on them.

“We have no plans to replace caning with other types of punishment. But if the Attorney-General’s Chambers changes the policy, then we are ready to accommodate based on the changes.

“The caning sentence has lessen recidivism, especially among drug traffickers, and agents for foreign workers need the mandatory caning sentence because fines are not as effective,” he told Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Kluang) during question time in the Dewan Rakyat.

Ahmad Zahid said last year, 8,451 prisoners were sentenced to caning, of whom 2,483 were Malaysians and 5,968 were foreigners.

He said, between 2012 and 2013, the Prisons Department had executed three people, of whom two were Malaysians.

There are 975 prisoners who have been sentenced to death but the executions are currently on hold pending appeals. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 13, 2014.