Malaysian Drug Laws are Unfair to Australians

Australians are not presumed innocent when charged with crimes that could see them executed, says a Malaysian legal reform advocate.

A MALAYSIAN law reform advocate says Australians on trial in Malaysia for drug trafficking may face an unfair trial, and there's little chance of Malaysia's mandatory death penalty for drug possession being changed in the near term.

Surendran Nagarajan, founder of Kuala Lumpur-based legal rights group Lawyers for Liberty, says Malaysia's Dangerous Drugs Act undermines common law principles of "presumption of innocence" in the trial process.