Maldives Correctional Service has conducted interviews with inmates eligible for parole at Maafushi Prison as part of the parole assessment process.

In a post on social media, the agency said the Parole Board held special sessions at the prison on Saturday to interview a large number of inmates who had applied for parole.

During the visit, parole board members also toured the prison's vocational training facilities, where inmates participate in rehabilitation programmes and skills-development courses.

Maldives introduced a parole and clemency system in 2023 to facilitate the supervised release of eligible prisoners. According to Maldives Correctional Service, 434 inmates were released under the programme during its first year, the majority of whom had been serving sentences for drug-related offences.

In 2024, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu introduced a policy allowing eligible prisoners participating in rehabilitation programmes to receive sentence reductions, with each day spent in the programme deducted from the remainder of their sentence.

The government also revised prisoner work allowances last year for the first time in 25 years.

Under the revised system, inmates are paid across eight grades based on the type of work they perform. Daily allowances range from MVR 50 for Grade 1 to MVR 120 for Grade 8.