A bill submitted to the People’s Majlis establishes the procedure for implementing death sentences, designating hanging as the method of execution.
Introduced on behalf of the government, the bill does not create additional capital offences. It applies to offences already punishable by death under the Penal Code or other laws, and only after a case has completed the two levels of appeal to a final judgment.
Courts must confirm that the accused had full access to a lawyer throughout investigation and trial. In murder cases, decisions on retribution or pardon by the victim’s heirs follow Islamic principles of qisas. Execution is suspended while related court proceedings remain pending.
A seven-member oversight panel, including a representative of the Prosecutor General and a member of the Supreme Council for Fatwa, would determine the date of execution. The Maldives Correctional Service would carry out the hanging. Broadcasting images or sound of an execution is prohibited.
The bill lists circumstances in which execution must be postponed, including pregnancy and the care of young children. President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said the government intends to enforce death sentences imposed by competent courts in accordance with law and the country’s Islamic framework, ending a long period in which such sentences were not carried out.
