The government has submitted a bill to the People's Majlis that would regulate the implementation of the death penalty and designate hanging as the method of execution.
The Bill on the Determination and Execution of the Death Penalty was introduced by Guraidhoo MP Hanan Mohamed Rasheed. It aims to set formal rules and procedures for capital cases.
Under the proposed law, executions would be carried out by hanging under the direction of the Maldives Correctional Service. Executions would not take place in public view. Recording or distributing footage of an execution would be prohibited.
A seven-member oversight panel would be established to determine the date and time of execution within a maximum of 30 days of its formation. The panel would include a state prosecutor appointed by the Prosecutor General, a member from the Supreme Council for Fatwa, and representatives from other relevant authorities.
The bill lists circumstances in which an execution must be postponed. These include pregnancy: execution would be stayed until the woman has given birth, recovered, and the child reaches two years of age.
The last judicial execution in the Maldives took place in 1953, when Hakim Didi was hanged on Dhoonidhoo after being convicted of using black magic in an attempt to assassinate the country's first president, Mohamed Amin Didi. No executions have been carried out since.
The proposed legislation seeks to create a statutory framework balancing constitutional requirements, international standards, and the rights of both victims and those convicted.
Parliament is expected to debate the bill in coming sittings. The introduction of the measure has drawn attention given the long de facto moratorium on capital punishment in the Maldives.
