新奇事件簿 马来西亚废除死刑

The Malaysian government has stated it intends to abolish the death penalty in a move that has been welcomed by human rights campaigners. Malaysia's Law Minister said: "The death penalty will be abolished. Full stop." He added: "Since we are abolishing the sentence, all executions should not be carried out." There are currently over 1,267 people on death row in Malaysia who are set to win a reprieve¹. The law minister said prisoners on death row would be released or have their sentences commuted². He said: "When commuted, they would have to face life imprisonment³ because there had been several deaths that were caused by the offender⁴ and so they were sentenced to death."

马来西亚政府宣布意图废除死刑，此举一直都受到人权活动人士的欢迎。马来西亚司法大臣表示：“死刑将被废除。画上句号。”他还说：“既然我们废除了该刑罚，那么所有死刑都不应该被执行。”马来西亚死囚牢房中现有1267多名囚犯暂缓行刑。司法大臣表示死囚牢房中的囚犯将被释放或减刑。他说：“减刑的话，他们将面临终身监禁，因为他们之前犯了杀人罪因此才被判了死刑。”

Malaysia's decision was hailed by Amnesty International. Its Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said: "Malaysia must now join the 106 countries who have turned their backs for good on the ultimate cruel, inhumane, degrading punishment. The world is watching." Mr Naidoo added: "There is no time to waste. The death penalty should have been consigned⁵ to the history books long ago. Malaysia's new government has promised to deliver on human rights, and today's announcement is an encouraging sign, but much more needs to be done." There are still 23 countries that retain the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, there were 993 executions recorded worldwide in 2017.

马来西亚的这个决定得到了国际特赦组织的欢迎。该组织秘书长库米·奈都表示：“马来西亚现在一定要加入106个拒绝残酷、毫无人性且可耻的刑法的国家。世界正在关注着。”奈都还说道：“没时间可以浪费了。死刑早就该被历史抛之脑后。马拉西亚的新政府承诺要履行人权，他们今天的宣告就是一个令人鼓舞的示意，但是要做的还有很多。”有23个国家仍然保留了死刑。国际特赦组织称，2017年全国共执行了993起死刑。

1 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

2 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

3 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

4 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。

5 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》