MoreMaafushi Jail inmates being transferred to house arrest
Haveeru Daily
Dec 28, 2009 - 12:00
Several inmates at the Kaafu atoll Maafushi Jail are being transferred to house arrest in Malé, Home Minister Mohamed Shihab has said.
The Minister said on Sunday that the inmates were being transferred to house arrest in order to begin a rehabilitation program.
“At first we wanted to transfer them to Himmafushi,” the Home Minister said. “But it wasn’t the most appropriate place to conduct the program so they were transferred to house arrest in Malé. We also have to repair the extensive damage to the jail, and we can’t do that while the inmates are there.”
The President’s Office had earlier revealed that they were conducting a survey to see if there were any prisoners who were eligible for release or to have their sentences alleviated. The Press Secretary of the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, said that they were making a list of prisoners who were eligible for parole. However, the Home Minister said that the inmates being transferred to home arrest was not connected to that.
“Only the president has the authority to give amnesty to prisoners,” he said. “We don’t have the authority to do that.”
Not even a month after being elected to office, President Mohamed Nasheed had transferred 119 inmates to house arrest, apparently under a parole policy. The Human Rights Commission had later reported to relevant authorities that they were receiving complaints that the same inmates were being sighted in various islands of Maldives despite being under house arrest.
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