No legal obstacles to implementing death penalty: Chief Justice

Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain has said that there are no legal obstacles to implementing the death penalty in the Maldives.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony to observe a moment of silence for the late lawyer and writer Ahmed Najeeb, Faiz Hussain said that more than ten people have been sentenced to death in the past ten years.

“Death penalty is issued in Maldives according to Islamic limits. It has been part of the judicial system, even if we consider the records for the past ten years,” he said.

According to the Chief Justice, it is up to the implementation authorities to enforce the death penalty after it is issued by the courts.

The practice in the Maldives has been that the implementation authority, namely the government, changes the death penalties issued by the courts to life imprisonment.