MALDIVES: PARLIAMENT RESUMES DEBATE ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

March 14, 2011: the Maldives parliament (Majlis) resumed the debate on amending the Clemency Act to bring back capital punishment. Although the constitution allows the death penalty, the Maldives is abolitionist in practice. Depending on whether or not a majority of MPs agree to send the proposed amendment to the committee stages, the process for bringing back executions may begin.
The amendment was proposed by Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Rasheed after an urgent motion he introduced earlier in the Majlis session of 8 March to discuss the recent escalation of violent crime. (Sources: BBC, 14/03/2011)