Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Rasheed has presented an amendment to the Clemency Act during yesterday’s parliament session, requiring the death penalty to be administered where the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.
While the Maldives theoretically has a death penalty under Islamic Shariah, in practice this has been implemented as a 25 year prison sentence.
In November 2010, the Criminal Court of the Maldives issued a death sentence to a person found guilty of murder. However the last person to actually be judicially executed was Hakim Didi in 1953, who was executed by firing squad after being found guilty of consipiracy to murder using black magic.
In last year’s death penalty verdict, the judge referred to article 88[d] of the Constitution, which stated that cases of murder should be dealt accordingly to Islamic Shariah, and that persons found guilty of murder ”shall be executed” if no inheritor of the victim denies the murderer to be executed, as according to Islamic Shariah.
According to MP Rasheed’s proposed amendment, if the Supreme Court upholds a death penalty ruled by a lower court, or if the Supreme Court itself serves death penalty to a person, the death penalty shall be executed.
Rasheed said he felt he had to present the amendment because of the increase in assaults and murder cases, which had “forced the living to live amid fear and threats.”
He noted that police were sending these cases to court after “thoroughly investigating and researching” them, but the reason the criminals were escaping was because the Prosecutor General was sending “young, untrained lawyers” to the courts. In many cases, he alleged, the PG’s office was not giving its lawyers the police investigation report.
In 2008 Rasheed said 104 cases of assault were sent to Prosecutor General, increasing to 454 in 2009 and 423 cases in 2010.
”I beg this esteemed Majlis to try and make the Prosecutor General accountable,” he said, adding that if his amendment was passed, “violence in this country will be eliminated.”
”In Quran, Sural Al Baqarah verse 178, God says: ‘O ye who believe! the law of equality is prescribed to you in cases of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman. But if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and compensate him with handsome gratitude, this is a concession and a Mercy from your Lord. After this whoever exceeds the limits shall be in grave penalty’,” he said. ”During broad day light in this very city of Male’ people have been chopped, sliced and crushed using axes, machetes – just like fish are chopped.”
”I am saying brains have leaked out, after being constantly hit by shovels until their skulls are crushed,” he said.
DRP MP Ali Waheed said that he supported “killing those who kill.”
Waheed claimed that “more than 600 youths have been charged in murder cases.”
However, he said, ”slaughtering those who murder is not the solution. We should first try an adequate measurement for this [penalty] instead of implementing death penalties.”
”The corpse found in Lhaviyani Atoll is being buried today after taking DNA samples. But [police] is not sure whether it is the corpse of the Kendhoo person who fell in to the Kaashidhoo Ocean or the corpse of the person missing from Naifaru,” said Ali Waheed. ”This is the situation today.”
President’s Member on the Judicial Services Commisson (JSC), Aishath Velezinee, who wrote her thesis on Sharia, equality and family law, said the country had to first attend to the issue of trust in the judiciary before discussing the death penalty.
“While Islam provides for the dealth penalty in certain cases where preconditions are met, there must be no doubt as to justice has been delivered. There must be absolute faith in the judicary for the death sentence to be delivered – it cannot be reverted,” she said.
“It is an affront to the constitution we adopted for parliament to be discussing this issue without first addressing the multitude of complaints against the JSC. Parliament has shown absolute disregard for the lack of independence of the judiciary.”
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Not a good idea.
There doesn't appear to be any inverse correlation between violent crime and capital punishment.
'Deterrence' hasn't proved itself a worthy reason to implement death sentences - and most countries of the world are walking away from it.
On the other hand, in a society like ours where petty politics has spilled into everything from sports to marriages, it has all the potential to be strongly abused to become an authoritarian instrument of political fear (not crime deterrence)
There is a reason why it was stated in the Religion. Few sacrifices to protect the majority. in this case democracy. Death it should be....
Agree with Vel
Death penalty because it has been working so well around the world.
Helpless Person- Brings a loss to self yet gain to others
A Bandit- Brings a gain to self by causing a loss to others
A Stupid person- Nearly always causes a loss to self and others
An intelligent person- Always brings a gain to self and others
Based on the above definitions most of our Majlis members are Bandits (Yameen, Nazim etc) or Stupids (Malhouf, Nihan etc)
We badly need intelligent people there, to have a chance of a functioning government in any foreseeable future.
Im disgusted with this MDP member whose way passed the ideals of MDP. Murderer this MP would be if this legislation is passed and people been killed and murderer in the name of justice. Hell with you Horafushi MP.
It's high time we had punishments that are proportional to the crime. There is no deterrent at all at the moment.
Criminals know full well, that they can get away with murder and they are getting away with it.
The death penalty is one apsect of the deterrent. I don't know many people that would argue against the death penalty given the amount of murders that have taken place in recent times.
I shall voice my support for the death penalty but that is given that the judiciary is wholly and fully reformed to actually do its task.
A serial killer deserves death penalty, oh a person with multiple counts of pedophilia and rape
Eye for an eye. Death for killing some one. Would it help us? The victim? Maybe!
How about the fornicators,adulterers? Public Stoning?
I am sure the beardees would love this. Their faces salivating over the victim when she/he is stoned to bloody pulp.
Grow up guys. That would never happen in Maldives. If you want to see that, migrate (that is prevalent in Islamic history) to Arabia.
I agree with Vel about the need for absolute faith in the judiciary.
How relevant is the question what leads people to commit crime. Should we not think of prevention before going into the sentence of death. Committing crimes of any altitude mean a cycle of violence.
The desire to control revenge or power, the desire for material gains etc have brought crimes to be committed including murder. Social factors, educational factors, parental relationships etc effect choices people make to commit or not to commit crime or the level of crime they want to commit. In some instance the crime can be impulsive. In other cases it is planned.
How much can it be prevented?
MDP use to blame Gayoom for all the crime previously. So now it must be President Nasheed who is responsible for all the stabbing and violence in the country. Nothing will change unless President Nasheed is forced to do so.
Yes death penalty it is last option ,but if every day we can see crime,murdering rising up because criminals know that at present time law system cannot stop them, so what is option? If some criminals killing member of your family and after short time of prison sentence because of bribe they again kiling some one else it is not a law it is joke/But if criminals know, that for murdering will be death penalty it will change mind of many youngsters who try to be members of some criminals organisation/In the end it will help to safe many young maldvians from crime road/if you want peace you must prepare for war with those crime who try eliminate peaceful life in Maldives and death penalty is a good stopping mechanism/
how many court cases has been carried out unjustly, even the current president has been charged under grand theft and crimes against the state. If we did have this butchery justice then our current president would have ability issues since the Islamic sharia law for stealing is amputation ? think before you make sudden decisions not just yield for emotions and whahabism! . Also the international criminal court would laugh at us while imposing economic embargo for *the last person killed was for black majic(in 1950's) ? :S
Its idiot MPs like this that makes me think Maldives is maybe not ready to graduate to a 2nd world country that gets a seat on UN human rights council. We have to go back to grass roots educate our own citzens, hopefully with a rise in general awareness we will then in turn elect better leaders that give us coherent solutions. As an MP he has already failed to pass laws to prevent our youth from harming others and harming themselves, since they cant fix it now the easy solution is to not stop drugs, or the gangs or the poverty or the lact of educational options but spend out hard earned money to ... execute our own sons and daughters for crimes that the current Maldivian judiciary is no were near equipped nor has the required measure of integrity to pass judgment upon which could be perceived as fair ?
A person who deliberately kills another and if there are witnesses he has ABSOLUTELY no right to spend the rest of his life in a quiet place at the expense of the state.
Trying to make Maldives a safe haven for killers is not going to help anyone.
ISLAMIC LAW IS THE SOLUTION FOR HUMANITY!
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he sad we do not have criminal in our country. Why? HE hangs them all.
So thnk possitive, we get free appartment, more roads are free, we eliminating people You want! I like the Idear, why talk just do death penalty.Less work, no west of money. Aaa yes Gov. can keep it or who ever.
What about asking, why do we have criminal, why do we have drugs,alcohol?? Who can effort do buy all this ? WHO HAS MONEY!!!! what is definitiaon criminal, how fare you like to go you are criminal, who force to go on the road and change money "blackmarket" then he has no DOLLAR to go for medical care!!??? this is a criminal ooo poor fellows you are all criminals .
Heck, what do you know of humanity, you who accused the maakanaa show director of being someone who he is not?.
People like you are why the death penalty should not be instated - in this country, all it takes is a little 'islamic' accusations for the 'KILL!' cry to rise.
Because we all know that in this so-called 'islamic law' you tout so hard, all it takes to pass a lynching is an accusation.
@ Albert
Are you sure that's English?
@ Ahmed Anony (Mouse)
If you were to prepare your Will, would you allow to let your murderer walk free and commit another murder?
You killer sympathizer?