Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has released an order on the Maldives Correctional Services mandating the implementation of the death penalty.
“I order the Maldives Correctional Services [MCS] to implement the death penalty – as sentenced by the Supreme Court – through the use of lethal injection, and to make all necessary arrangements for the implementation of such sentences, and to obtain all necessary equipment for the implementation and maintain the set-up at the Maafushi Prison,” read the order signed by Naseer and made public at a press conference today.
The home minister’s decision comes just days after a death sentence was handed to Hussain Humam Ahmed on charges of murdering the moderate religious scholar and MP Dr Afrasheem Ali in October 2012.
The order was received by MCS Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Shihan at today’s event.
Naseer stated that the order is in alignment with the draft bill on death penalty implementation which the state has made ready for submission to the parliament. He confirmed that advice had been sought from the attorney general prior to the signing of the order.
“We will not wait for laws to be drafted and passed. The law allows for implementation, and it is at the discretion of the home minister to order implementation,” Naseer said, adding that – should a relevant law be passed in the future – the state would then abide by the new laws.
Implementation only after appeals
The home minister further stated that the death penalty will be implemented only after all appeal processes are exhausted. If the sentenced fails to appeal his case, the state itself will initiate all avenues of appeal prior to the implementation of the sentence, he added .
Naseer said that while the order applies to all pending death sentences, and not just the ones that come after the issuance of the order, the state will not seek to expedite any of the existing appeal cases.
“The government will not interfere with the work of the judiciary, either to expedite or slow down a process. The bottom line is, the death penalty will only be implemented once all the appeal processes are completed,” he stated.
“Regulations on how this penalty will be implemented have already been compiled. Media will have access to the centre of implementation, but not will be allowed inside. The MCS now must run training programs for those who will be involved in this work and they will also begin work on establishing the necessary set up,” he continued.
“While this order does not detail a specific deadline for completion of this task, the MCS will have everything ready by the time we will need to implement such a sentence.”
The minister added that, in the case of minors sentenced to death, “I think the rule is to wait till they turn eighteen for implementation of the sentence. It will be done in accordance with international treaties we have signed”.
Naseer stated that, as Home Minister, he would need to sign a specific order to authorise the execution of each individual person sentenced to death.
A source at the Home Ministry stated that, although there are approximately twenty individuals currently sentenced to death, all cases are being appealed at the High Court and have not yet reached the Supreme Court.
Background
While death sentences continue to be issued in the country, these have traditionally been commuted to life sentences by presidential decree since the execution of Hakim Didi in 1954 for the crime of practising black magic.
In May last year, the UN country team called for the abolition of death penalty in the Maldives, stating: “in view of the country’s more than 50 year moratorium, the United Nations call upon the Maldives to take the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to its international human rights obligations, and abolish the death penalty”.
Earlier in 2013, calls for presidential clemency to be blocked resulted in then Attorney General Azima Shakoor asking the High Court to decide upon the matter.
Azima further drafted a bill in December 2012 favouring the implementation of the penalty via lethal injection. This was met with opposition from religious groups including Jamiyathul Salaf, which called for the draft to be amended in favour of beheadings or firing squads.
In June 2013, Dhivehi Qaumee Party MP Riyaz Rasheed submitted a bill asking for death penalty to be implemented by hanging. The bill was rejected by 26 votes to 18, with no abstentions.
During campaigns for 2013 presidential elections, incumbent President Abdulla Yameen stated that “murder has to be punished with murder”. Yameen revealed that, although he was previously not an advocate of the death penalty, he “had a change of heart” due to “murders that have become too commonplace”.
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Finally.
Umara is so interested in death penalty is because the guy wants to implement Allah law, this is nothing to do to reduce crimes in the country. Umara himself has criminal gene, the guy acts like a mafia man and very violent person. Now Yamees has given him free hand to sign death sentence to our poor and weak people. This guy will go on rampage with institutionalized killing by Sharia adherent barbaric courts that have been radicalized to kill rape and loot other human being in the name of religion.
Say NO to killing of any human being, we don’t go after every animal to teach them lesson that kills human being. Those people who kill other human being are no human being and we can’t teach them lesson but rather we are teaching inhuman behaviors to others, when you have institutionalized killing by normalizing the killing, this is more dangerous. Some people may think in Saudi you have less crimes due to the killing of criminals, but the truth is Saudi has more crimes then anywhere in the world, these Bedouins never show their true face, the judiciary is corrupted, most murderers, rapist, and thief are never punished, few poor miserable petty criminals are put on death to implement their God’s law, the real culprits never go to face their swords.
Another grave mistake.
Beheading as practiced in Saudi Arabia is the most humane way to send a murderer to hell where he'll get the rest of his punishment as Allah decreed.
All other forms of the death penalty including the electric chair, hanging, lethal injection are far more prone to serious injury and prolonged suffering to the victim and there are a number of recorded cases of this happening throughout the world.
For example, see how lethal injection got botched in the supposedly most advanced country in the world: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jan/10/usa.suzannegoldenberg.
Allah help any Maldivian who may have to undergo this murderous procedure.
What next? An official state party celebrating the first execution?
Who is the real monster? Do you believe that people are born evil? Humam may be a murderer but did you self-righteous Maldivians ever stop to think what kind of troubled childhood (from family and society) created this monster? Now, without taking responsibility for our own individual role which collectively contributed to this, you want to kill off the monster you contributed to helping create? Neat. I do not approve death penalty (capital punishment) because a troubled soul still has a right to life. We are only locking him up (imprisonment) because the society has to be protected from his anti-social and harmful behavior, the result of a troubled childhood. This is the idea behind life imprisonment rather than execution. If you don't get this, you lack humanity, compassion and rationalism. So please stop pretending to be a civilized, critically thinking liberal.
So, kindly please, anyone who supports death penalty, please UNFRIEND me. I don't want to be friends with unthinking, irresponsible and inhumane animals who pretend to be a "human being with a conscience".
Allah rules the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He gives live and causes death. No man can decide upon life and death, it is the right of Allah only.
If an eye for an eye, a broken spine for a broken spine, Mr Naseeru.
Or are you going to be above such laws.
And Mullah Umar Naseer is Allah's APPOINTED agent carrying out Allah's rights? LOL. May he get 72 virgin ladders in the afterlife.
If The Maldives really is so inhumane to kill their own people then make sure the procedure is utmost effective. As a veterinary Surgeon I have passed the death sentence to thousand of animals (euthanized them) and the standard procedure, most veterinarians use, is very effective and humane, Just ask us.
You dont get it, do you, you stupid Maldivians?
Allah has abandoned you because you have forsaken yourselves and whored yourselves off for money.
Verse (3:160) sūrat āl ʿim'rān (The Family of Imrān)
"If Allah is your helper none can overcome you, and if He withdraw His help from you, who is there who can help you after Him? In Allah let believers put their trust."
Maldivians put their trust in a gang who sought to end Islam by murdering people who sought to learn His religion in cold blood.
This is their just punishment. Pray to Allah for mercy... while you still can.
We hope Yameen will not allow psycho Umar to carry out his Islamic mandatory killing of other human being. The public may cry to implement death penalty due tier ignorance as this uneducated public is just after to implement their God’s order. Their cry is not to give the justice to the victim’s family; their call is to do a religious obligation, like praying, fasting, and Hajj. In Maldives we don’t have the culture of institutionalized killing and we should not bring this barbarism to already ignorant uncivilized people. The true leaders are those who are bold enough to face challenges for the greater cause. Killing criminals do not reduce crimes and it is a proven fact, crime is cultivated in the society due to social, economic and educational shortcomings. The criminals are born, nurtured and fashioned to be criminals and they will do their crimes according to how they are programmed. Do you see solders back from their duty because the fear of death, they willingly face the death, so do you think psychopaths can be threatened by death?
Umar is a psychopath and this is true; he has clear record of violence, if you let this guy go free, this is another crime Yameen will do on poor nation of Maldives. Of course the majority of Maldivian will approve this and one of Umar’s main goal is to get popular for a big plan mainly psychopaths have; to be the president of Maldives and establish a murderous Islamic caliphate, People who has vision of Islamic caliphate cant not be true human being, they suffer from mental sickness and if Yameen has any modern education he should know the true nature of Islamist.