Death in the tropical paradise

“I believe in the capital punishment,” said Mohamed Kinanath Ahmed. It’s a startling admission from a man whose brother has been sentenced to death for the murder of a parliamentarian. If the penalty is carried out, 22-year-old Hussain Humam Ahmed will become the first person in the Maldives to be executed in more than 60 years.

Ever since the Supreme Court ruled against him in June, several members of the local media and civil society in the country, along with international organisations like the United Nations, European Union and Amnesty International, have been lobbying for suspension of the sentence. In part, theirs is a principled opposition. The death penalty, they say, fails to serve as a deterrent for criminals.

In 2014, the government overturned a six-decade moratorium on death penalty and passed a new regulation on it.