Friday
19th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
The Criminal Court has sentenced Ismail Haisham Rasheed and Ahmed Zeehan Ismail to life sentences and to pay MVR1.3 million in financial compensation for the murder of blogger and social media activist, Yameen Rasheed.
A life sentence in the Maldives is 25 years. Both of the convicts had spent a total of 4 years, 8 months, and 11 months in detention during the course of the murder trial. They would remain in prison for 20 years, 3 months, and 19 days.
The Court had sought the death penalty during today's hearing, as per the Islamic rulings of qisas. The Court did not sentence the convicts to death after Yameen Rasheed's mother requested that she did not wish for the convicts to be put to death.
Haisham and Zeehan will both effectively go free in 2042. Other people who had been convicted to life sentences have either completed the duration of their prison terms or have gone free on parole.