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Drawing on recent legislative changes in Malaysia, including the 2023 abolition of mandatory capital punishment, the study identifies three critical pathways through which the death penalty threatens public health: prolonged confinement of death row inmates, miscarriages of justice, and punitive drug policies. The research highlights how capital punishment creates trauma that extends beyond death row prisoners and affects families, prison staff, legal professionals, and communities. It emphasises the death penalty's disproportionate impact on marginalised groups, including women, sexual minorities, and individuals with disabilities, who face compounded discrimination in the judicial system. 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