Meanwhile, in rebutting the points from UiTM, IIUM countered with the following arguments:
(a) The death penalty is not unjust, and the punishment should be in proportion to the crime;
(b) The crime rate will increase if the death penalty is abolished;
(c) The death penalty for drug trafficking cases should be rescinded, but it should be retained for heinous crimes, including cases of pre-meditated murder and rape-murder, where the offenders have forfeited their own right to life by committing murder;
(d) Life is valuable, hence all the more reason for imposing the death penalty as punishment for someone who takes another’s life;
(e) There is possibility of human errors in the justice system but this cannot be an underlying assumption, as there are strict procedures in finding and upholding justice in the system, and also a myriad of mitigating factors;
(f) Emotional closure for a victim’s family can be derived through imposition of the death penalty;
(g) The conditions in prisons have improved: life imprisonment is not true punishment for hardcore criminals;
(h) Life imprisonment may not be a sufficient deterrent to crime: it only offers protection to criminals, not to society;
(i) Wrongful conviction: is this the only reason to abolish the death penalty? The Malaysian justice system has a procedure for appeals that a person who is wrongfully convicted can resort to; and
(j) Life imprisonment will cost the Government more money: it is better to channel the money to provide other facilities for the public.
The debate was followed by a question-and-answer session between the audience and the debaters, at which the following points and issues were accented:
(a) The death penalty should be retained as the highest form of punishment for heinous crimes;
(b) The level of deterrence effected by capital punishment is stronger due to the process in the justice system that the offenders have to go through. If a person is sentenced to death, he or she can appeal, but the process is protracted, tiresome, and expensive;
(c) The death penalty can instil the fear of committing serious crimes, and in the process, guard and protect society from hardcore offenders;
(d) The abolition of the death penalty serves as the nation’s moral compass; the State must not encourage blood vengeance and reinforce the principle of “an eye for an eye”; and
(e) Life imprisonment is the harshest punishment and best alternative to the death penalty. It gives offenders the chance to feel remorse and to reflect upon their wrongdoings.
The question-and-answer session was followed by a recapitulation of arguments by a representative of each team. Syahredzan Johan then took a vote from the audience to determine the winner of the debate. The results were close but clear: 83 voted for the proposition while 78 voted for the opposition of the motion. However, the moderator announced that there was no loser in this debate and all were winners, as every debater gave his or her very best in arguing the motion. He stated that the debate had actual substance, as no political elements were brought into the arguments. The idea of this debate was not to see who would win, but most importantly, to have a healthy discourse on the death penalty, and this debate saw both sides being argued, and cut across racial, religious and political inclinations.