Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla has revealed no prisoners were released by the administration in the run-up to the parliamentary elections held last April.
Addressing the parliamentarians when he was summoned to the Parliament of Maldives, Home Minister Imran assured no prisoners were pardoned by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as part of a tactic to gain votes for his party in the elections.
However, the home minister noted minimising the sentence of people who have been jailed under false pretences are followed in Maldives as well as in other countries. He explained the administration identified 206 prisoners under such conditions in Maldivian jails, adding they were released by the authority given to the president from the Clemency Act.
Furthermore, the home minister assured no person who has committed an offence for which a pardon shall not be granted under the Clemency Act was released. However, he noted sentences were minimised for 79 such individuals who were not eligible for clemency.
The minister further highlighted extensive rehabilitation programmes are conducted for inmates as part of the prison-based rehabilitation before they are released back to the community. He noted the programmes are held in association with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).