President Abdulla Yameen has reiterated his government’s commitment to enforcing the death penalty despite ‘opposition to it’.
At a speech he gave during the ceremony to commemoration the Maldives National Defence Force’s 125th anniversary, President Yameen said that enforcing capital punishment would be conducive to upholding the rule of law.
“What I have left to say in my capacity as the head of state is that we will enforce the death penalty” Yameen said.
He further noted that he could not afford to ‘comprise the rule of law and principles of justice’ based on opposition, no matter whom it is.
“How many political leaders? How many men and women that have diligently worked in service to the nation, how many that have been on the frontlines have opposed this? I cannot indulge this. Lawlessness and deterioration of our morals is not something that can be accepted" he continued.
At the ceremony, President Yameen had also conveyed his foreign minister, Azleen Ahmed’s assurance that all the logistical preparations for enforcing the death penalty will be made within two months and further said that an execution chamber has been built at the prison on Maafushi island.
In his speech, he noted the brutal murder of Yameen Rasheed, a prominent pro-democracy activist and writer, and said that the state would ensure that murder is responded to justly.
