Home Minister to be questioned regarding govt. policy on death penalty

Home Minister Sheikh Imran Abdulla is scheduled to be questioned by the Parliament regarding the current administration’s policy on enforcement of the death penalty.

Minister Imran was sent notice of the request made by Mahibadhoo MP Ahmed Toriq this Wednesday.

Toriq is seeking clarity regarding the current administration’s policy regarding enforcement of the death penalty in connection to a remark by Minister at the President’s Office, Ahmed Naseem (Kerafa Naseem) at an international conference that Maldives will sustain its moratorium on enforcement of the death penalty.

Toriq, in his notice to Imran, references Article 10 of the Constitution which establishes the religion of Islam as the basis for Maldivian laws, and that no laws may be enacted which contradict with the principles of the religion of Islam.

The United Nations reaffirmed its Moratorium on the Use of Death Penalty at a general assembly held in late 2018.

Maldivian officials who took part in the general assembly spoke in support of the resolution, and the decision of the Maldivian administration to uphold the moratorium on enforcement of the death penalty which already exists in Maldives was announced via the official Twitter account of the Maldivian Foreign Ministry.

The tweet, however, was deleted shortly after it was posted. And the Maldives voted against the resolution.

Then-Maldivian Permanent Resident to the UN, Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed, at the time, noted the Penal Code establishes death penalty as a punishment, and that Maldives will enforce the death penalty in accordance with Islamic Sharia, but not until faith in the Maldivian justice system is restored.

Former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, during his term in office, said he planned on enforcing the death penalty, but plan never manifested into action.

Yameen’s stand on the death penalty had drawn criticism from the global community.