Maldives’ first Islamic Minister and popular religious scholar Dr. Abdul Majeed Abdul Baaree says that while Islam does call for the death penalty, justice has to be enforced prior to that.

Speaking in the joint opposition rally in M. Kunooz, Dr. Majeed said that crimes such as murder have to be proven on the suspect beyond a doubt.

“Even if they forcefully say they will implement death penalty, by merely enforcing it does not ensure justice. Perhaps Humaam is the murderer of Dr. Afrasheem Ali. But what enmity was there between Humaam and Afrasheem? Was there any conflict between Mahfooz Saeed and his attacker? Was there any conflict between Alhan Fahmy and his attacker? By enforcing punishment on them, does not mean that justice is established. By executing Humaam may hide many of evidence. What the Government must do is to stop influencing judiciary,” he said.

Majeed said that death penalty must be implemented but it should be the last step.

Dr. Majeed further noted that the Government must implement more measures to strengthen the judiciary.