Govt working on new program to review prisoners

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Minister of State for Home Affairs Ahmed Shafeeg, and Deputy Undersecretary of the President’s Office Nazil Afeef has expressed that newly installed government of President Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) was working on a program to supplement the already existing program under which prisoners serving time for various offenses are reviewed, their sentences reduced or released.

The high ranking officials made the statement in a joint interview given to Television Maldives’ ‘Raajje Miadhu’ program on Sunday night. They expressed that the goal of the government was to provide an environment where prisoners could prepare themselves to return to the society as responsible citizens.

Minister Shafeeg and Undersecretary Afeef also provided on information on a draft bill to be sent to the People’s Majlis. They said the bill contained provisions on how to treat the cases of the prisoners sentenced before the current Constitution was ratified. In this regard, they said the bill provided for: granting pardon to those sentenced for offences that did not constitute offences under the current Constitution; reducing sentences or granting pardon where convictions were based on regulations that were stricter or more lenient than the current standards used for convicting; granting pardon where the convicted had not attained the age of 18 when he or she committed the offence for which he or she was convicted. However, the cases that could be pardoned under this provision excluded murder, significant bodily injury cases, and offences for which Hadd is prescribed under Islamic Shari’ah; reducing sentence or granting pardon where a conviction was merely based on confession under investigation; granting pardon to those who were sentenced for reasons of achieving illegitimate political goals.

Meanwhile, President’s Office has informed that when the bill becomes law, the government expects a significant number of people will be released.

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