Parliament of the Maldives has rejected the Bill on Amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act to designate homosexual and transsexual acts as serious crimes with 24 votes against and nine in favour.
Parliamentarian Qasim Ibrahim proposed the amendment bill to designate homosexual and transsexual acts as serious crimes. He said it was important to establish the designation in order to prevent individuals guilty of the crimes from being released into society and repeating such acts. He also said that individuals who commit these acts should not be allowed to remain free to spread their ideology.
The proposed amendment came at a time when videos were circulating of individuals engaging in homosexual acts with a Bangladeshi national. Currently, those found guilty of homosexual acts receive a prison sentence between five to seven years.