Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan said on Wednesday that the current administration will carry out the capital punishment in Maldives.
In a press conference held by Ministry of Homeland Security, and the state institutions under the ministry, Minister Ihusaan said while answering a question by a journalist from Mihaaru News that this administration has decided to implement the capital punishment.
“We will do the things regarding this matter and look into it and carry it out within the laws and regulation of Maldives,” Minister Ihusaan said.
Recently, the Supreme Court has supported the capital punishment verdict made against Mohamed Shaifan, who was found guilty of murdering Ali Shifaan near West Park in Malé. According the laws of the country, the capital punishment can be carried out if the Supreme Court supports the verdict.
Regarding the verdict, Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem stated that it falls on the administration on how to proceed. He said that since the Prosecutor General's Office does not play a role in carrying out capital punishment, he does not have a comment on the matter.
In addition to the verdict on Shaifan’s murder, the Supreme Court maintained the capital punishment for three other individuals. During former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, attempts were made to carry out the three death penalties issued when they were in office, but these efforts failed.
Yameen’s administration had formulated a policy for capital punishment and attempted to carry it out via injection instead of the previous method of death by hanging.
Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration did not attempt to carry out the death penalty.
The last time capital penalty was carried out in Maldives was in 1953. Even though the Maldives’ penal code states that murderers can be sentenced to death, the country faces a lot of foreign pressure when it comes to implementing the verdict.
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