Flogging now administered by Corrections, not courts: Criminal Court

Criminal Court today stated that the implementation of Hadd or flogging sentences has been delayed for some time due to a lack of a flogger and refuted statements made by Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem.

PG Shameem, speaking in the Judiciary Committee of Parliament yesterday about Hadd in response to a question posed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ibrahim Nazil asking how the Court could be proceeding with implementing sentences when it has announced for a flogger.

Since the establishment of the Maldives Correctional Service, the institution has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing court sentences.

Shameem responded that implementation of sentences is under the purview of Maldives Correctional Services. He said that he is unaware why the court itself implements Hadd penalties alone. He said that with the practice being traditionally accepted, no one has raised questions about it so far.

However, the PG Shameem that the Criminal Court has been unable to administer Hadd sentences due to lack of a flogger for some time now.

However, a Criminal Court media official told Mihaaru News that the Criminal Court has not implemented Hadd sentences for a long time, and it is the Correctional Service that implements the sentences. Therefore, according to the official, no sentence will go unimplemented by the Criminal Court due to a lack of a flogger.

On June 26, the Criminal Court announced that it is seeking a for a person to administer Hadd penalties. Salary and allowances for the post are quoted as MVR 8000, with the deadline being set for today, June 3.

The employee who held the post in the Criminal Court resigned last month. Although the job description included implementing Hadd sentences, the official clarified that this task is not currently carried out by the court.

He said the court is seeking a flogger to execute court orders.

Some people expressed concern over the Prosecutor General's statement yesterday regarding the court's implementation of Hadd sentences.

Former Criminal Court Judge Ismail Rasheed said that although a separate agency has been established to implement sentences, seeking a flogger is not believed to fall under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Court.

Over the last 10 years, 33 cases of fornication were presided over by the Supreme Court. However, none of these cases were proven. High Court looked into 51 cases, with one remaining not proven. Criminal Court, up to March last year, has concluded 150 such cases.