Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Rasheed has withdrawn his amendment to the Clemency Act at the last minute, hours before a vote to send the bill to committee. The controversial amendment would have required implementing agencies to execute murderers if the Supreme Court upheld a guilty verdict.
After the preliminary debate over the past three sittings, MP Rasheed was given the opportunity to say his last words on the amendment, which he used as an opportunity to withdraw the bill.
Presenting the bill to the parliament earlier this month, the Hoarafushi MP explained that he was prompted by the recent increase in assaults and murder cases, which had “forced the living to live amid fear and threats.”
In 2008, said Rasheed, 104 cases of assault were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), rising to 454 cases in 2009 and 423 cases in 2010.
”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 then 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.”
While he did not specify reasons for his decision to withdraw the amendment, Rasheed claimed that he would resubmit the amendment once belated bills on evidence laws, criminal justice procedures and the penal code were enacted. Criticism of the amendment had centered around the capacity of the Maldivian justice system to rule fairly and impartially in such cases.
Unlike most parliamentary debates, MPs were not divided on the issue of death penalty along party lines. Several MPs of the ruling MDP as well as some opposition MPs argued that the fledgling Maldivian judiciary did not have the capacity or public confidence to dispense justice fairly.
The decision comes after 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer was murdered on the streets of Male’ during a gang attack on Thursday night.
The last person to be executed by Maldivian state was Hakim Didi in 1953 for the crime of practicing black magic.
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Why would they introduce death sentence when they themselves are criminals? like thieves, torturers, child abusers, web cam porn actors, etc.. sad about the direction where this country is headed.
Hurray! no death sentence!
My dear fellow parteys, this is the green light for us, lets go out and rob someone here stab someone there chop someone here and rape someone there. Its really cool, and the best part is there is no punishment for us. oh, maybe we may get arrested by a puny cop, but why worry cox we have all the rights, we have the right to remain silent, and even if a cop give us a bad look also, the human rights commission will come in our defense. well, we may face a judge, trust me those guys are most likely to release us to continue our fun on the street. Even if they send us to jail, its no biggie. cox we will have free food, free drugs, free medicine and free sex. we dont have to stay there for long, cox we will get pardoned sooner than later and we will be back on the streets.
when they say maldives is a paradise on earth, they are not kidding.. this is a paradise, paradise for us that is!
oh, now i will cut this comment short cox i need to get a fix n sharpen my sword for the up coming fun. ok, see u all. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Maldives is now in a state in need of Death Penalty. The society is highly unsafe due to crimes, gang violence, stabbing, robberies and murders. A death penalty would inplace justice and fear among those who perform these dirty crimes. The society would become a more safer place to live. A place with a population of just more than 300,000 people cannot have so many horrid crimes going on. A death penalty could be the best solution compared to the large amount of grave crimes in a small society. The government is wrong in pulling our the bill just before the vote.
drug partey..! m pretty sure everything u mentioned out there'll be quite easy,easy as a piece of cake, cox we hav "falho" police in our nation..
good luck 😛
@ Drug paatey: Your sarcasm is misguided. Death penalty is usually not a good idea. If it has worked, it has worked in countries with strong uncorrupt judiciaries, and a very well functioning and competent law enforcement.
The last person to be executed was for the crime of Black Magic in 1953, it doesn't seem we are smarter today.
i agree with peasant also lets add , countries like Canada has a lowe crime level when they do not impose death penalty which im sure has absolutely nothing to do with their good educatinal system and rehabilitation system and their juvenile justice system and equal employment opportunities unlike very advanced economies like Pakistan /Afghanistan that imposes death penalty where there is absolutely virtually no crimes, no bombs with ppl being blown up in mass terrorism, no crimes of rape (one of the highest
incidents in the globe ) and no corruption ( top 10 most corrupt places on earth ) all good reasonable facts and figure for us to look at and think about what we are doing right 😀
speaking of parteys (drug addicts) im sure canada witout its death penalty exports most amounts of drugs into Maldives unlike Pakistan or Afghanistan
Maldivian judicial is not strong enough to carry out executions. You need a system that delivered justice and is seen to deliver justice by a large majority of citizens. At the moment, it is a playground for the criminals, a gold mine for the lawers and a safe haven for the the rich and powerful.
This place has become a very dangerous and risky place to live. We never know when we will become a target. We are on top of the list for gang fights, rapes, child abuse, robberies and murders too. The population is just 300,000+. We have not seeing any improvements for last decade. Those authorities who are responsible to protect and safe guard are in question.
Politicians are busy on making news headlines. They are not concern about the future of this country and the people. Judiciary is busy in making their position in this country and showing how powerful they are. The legislators are too busy on gathering all the powers under their authority. The executive power is busy on promoting their agenda and securing their position for 2013 election. Biggest opposition is not able to resolve their own internal issues. Each and every leader is just after the executive power.
The only solution for this problem is to implement Islamic Sariya. According to it those proven for theft, the hands will be chopped and those how proves for taking life’s, there life’s will be taken. This is very fair. After taking an innocent life he/she will not have any right to live.
Yes Human Rights will create a big sound, since they works to safe guard the criminals and they it looks like there agenda is to fight for the rights of those who break the law. (I’m sorry but this is what I feel about the Human Rights Commission).
Hope someone will bring this bill back to the floor soon. We should go for a public referendum to identify what the peoples of this country really need. If the majority needs such a bill then we should go for it.
Saeed