Maldives: AG says "no debate over not implementing death penalty"

Attorney General (AG) Aishath Azima Shakoor has said last night that implementing capital punishment cannot be debated over.

“It cannot be debated to not implement capital punishment. Debating over whether a certain verdict is not correct or that the death penalty is not a suitable punishment for a crime because it wasn’t a murder in the first degree but a murder in the second degree is different. But it cannot be debated that the death penalty cannot be implemented for murder,” she said during an interview on TVM’s “Raajje Miadhu” show.

She revealed on the show that the AG’s office is working on drafting the procedures required to implement the death penalty and that the Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has also sent a letter to the parliament to identify the procedures required to implement the death penalty.

When asked by the presenter that given several people claiming problems with the judicial system if whether it was the right juncture to implement the death penalty Azima criticized such claims saying that a certain group is conspiring to weaken the legal system.

Azima noted that there will always be opposition in the international community against the death penalty with those who believe the punishment is inhumane but there are also those who believe that in case of an increase in extreme crimes “extreme punishment” needs to implemented.

“The other argument is that if someone commits a crime that necessitates capital punishment then it must be implemented….even America with the most developed legal system implements the death penalty. So if a person commits a crime that deserves the death penalty like killing with intent or planning and murdering a lot of people, isn’t that inhumane?” she questioned.

Azima said that the government will be pressured by those who are against capital punishment and statements will be made as well. She also said that the Penal Code currently in parliament process would need to be perfect and that there are several degrees of the death penalty.

She said that if the death penalty is to be implemented all the courts should support it as it is the procedure followed by all countries implementing the death penalty. She added that legal specifications should exist on the implementation of the death penalty.

“For example, what are the rights of the person who should be executed? What are his the last rights he’s entitled to? What should be done for his family? What are the rights of the victim’s family? This needs to be specified. There already are people on whom the death penalty has been issued, but so far never implemented. Societal sensitivities are also involved in this, but I don’t this is the time to be talking of it. But there is also the question if a lower court issues the death penalty on a person whether it should be implemented? Several people tell me that this problem will be solved when it is implemented. Then I ask how it should be done. They don’t have an answer for that,” she said.

She revealed that considering the messages on the media and SMS she receives from people it is widely believed that implementing the death penalty will solve the problem, but that she found it hard to confirm. Yet she also said that considering the matter in one way she believes that it may reduce the number of murders in the Maldives.

“For example Singapore, the death penalty is implemented on drug traffickers caught smuggling drugs into the country. People don’t and cannot smuggle drugs into Singapore easily. The Maldives doesn’t have such a comparison. There are several such comparisons in the world,” she said.

Source: haveeruOnline, July 24, 2012

Related articles:

Death Penalty News: Death penalty can be implemented within ...

Jul 06, 2012

Death penalty can be implemented within existing justice system: Maldives Chief Justice. July 4, 2012: The death penalty can be executed within the existing justice system of the Maldives, Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz has said.

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Maldives: Parliament accepts amendment to ...

Apr 19, 2011

Parliament today accepted the amendment presented by Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muthalib which requires the death sentence be implemented as execution if the Supreme Court upholds a death sentence issued by a ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Former Florida officer who raped, murdered 11-year-old set to be executed

An execution date has been set for a former Mascotte police officer who, in May 1987, assaulted and murdered an 11-year-old girl. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for James Aren Duckett on Friday. He’s scheduled to be executed on March 31. It’ll be the state’s 5th execution this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Duckett was convicted in the murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee about a year after her death. According to officials, Duckett took the 11-year-old to a lake, where he sexually battered, strangled and drowned her.

Florida executes Billy Kearse

Florida executes man who killed Fort Pierce police officer during 1991 traffic stop Moments before receiving a lethal injection, Billy Kearse asked for forgiveness from the family of Danny Parrish, whose widow said she found peace after a "long, long 35 years.” A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop was executed Tuesday evening, becoming the third person put to death by Florida this year after a record 19 executions in 2025.

Chinese courts conclude trials of 2 criminal gangs from northern Myanmar, 16 sentenced to death

Chinese courts have concluded the trials of 2 major criminal groups based in northern Myanmar involved in telecom and online fraud, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Thursday. At a press conference held by the SPC, it was revealed that by the end of 2025, courts across the country had concluded first-instance trials of over 27,000 cases related to telecom fraud operations in northern Myanmar, with more than 41,000 returned suspects sentenced. Notably, among the trials of the so-called "4 major families" criminal gangs -- which had drawn widespread domestic and international attention -- those of the Ming and Bai groups have completed all judicial proceedings.

Florida | Governor DeSantis signs death warrant in 2008 murder case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Michael L. King, setting an execution date of March 17, 2026, at 6 p.m. King was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old North Port mother. On January 17, 2008, Michael Lee King abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her North Port home by forcing her into his green Chevrolet Camaro. He drove her around while she was bound, including to his cousin's house to borrow tools like a shovel. King took her to his home, where he sexually battered her, then placed her in the backseat of his car. Later that evening, he drove to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her nude body in a shallow grave. Her remains were discovered two days later. During the crime, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made, but communication breakdowns between emergency dispatch centers delayed the response. The case drew national attention and prompted w...

Oklahoma Ends Indefinite Death Row Solitary Confinement

Every year, thousands of prisoners in the U.S. are placed in solitary confinement, where they endure isolation, abuse, and mental suffering . This practice might soon become rarer for some inmates in Oklahoma, thanks to the efforts of activists in the state. Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma announced that the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester had ended the practice of indefinite solitary confinement for "the vast majority" of death row prisoners.

‘Come on with it’: Arkansas inmate asks to hasten execution

A Faulkner County judge has scheduled an August hearing to determine whether a death row inmate can bypass his attorney’s advice, drop his remaining appeals, and hasten his execution. Scotty Ray Gardner, 65, is facing the death penalty for the 2016 killing of his girlfriend, Susan Heather Stubbs, in Conway. In letters sent to Circuit Judge Chuck Clawson and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Gardner said he wants to end his legal battles, writing that he is tired of prison life and skeptical he will receive a fair hearing. “It’s simple,” Gardner wrote in a September letter. “Come on with it.”

Florida Cop-killer Billy Kearse set to be executed today

A man who confessed to fatally shooting Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish with his own service weapon during a 1991 traffic stop is scheduled to be executed starting at 6 p.m. March 3, barring a last-minute stay. Billy L. Kearse, 53, will be the third person put to death by the state this year, just one week after the execution of Melvin Trotter, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford in Palmetto in 1986. The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 12 denied a motion for a stay of execution and a motion for an extension due to the fading health and death of the father of Kearse's attorney. Attorneys for Kearse have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, citing violations of the Sixth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Man convicted in 1986 murder set to become Florida's second execution of 2026

STARKE, Fla. (DPN) — A man convicted of stabbing and strangling a grocery store owner during a robbery nearly 40 years ago is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening, becoming the second person executed in Florida this year. Melvin Trotter, 65, is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection beginning at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 killing of Virgie Langford, 70, who owned Langford’s Grocery Store in Palmetto, in southwest Florida's Manatee County.

Florida executes Melvin Trotter

The execution of Melvin Trotter for the murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford in 1986 comes as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor questions Florida's 'deeply troubling' lethal injection record. Florida has executed its second inmate of the year even as a Supreme Court justice questioned the state's “deeply troubling" record on lethal injections and how it "shrouds its executions in secrecy." Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, Feb. 24, for the 1986 murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford, a mother of 4 who was on the verge of retirement when she was stabbed to death in the corner grocery store that she owned for five decades. Trotter was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. ET.

Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year

Cedric Ricks is set to be killed on March 11 Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.” The Tarrant County jury was unmoved. Ricks has spent the last 13 years on death row and is scheduled to be executed on March 11.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog