Kulhudhuffushi South Member of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has stated that the Anti- Terror Bill, submitted to the Parliament today, was a giant leap forward.
He made the statement in the debate session of the Bill.
He added that this within the Parliament this may be just another Bill that will be deliberated on, but within the penal system and the terrorism definitions globally, this Bill is a giant leap forward. MP Nasheed described the Bill as nothing short of revolutionary.
MP Nasheed said that the present Anti-Terror Bill was composed of six clauses, over 64 pages. The entire Bill deals with six crimes. However, Nasheed noted that the crime can be tried under the penal code, a special law or terrorism itself. This, Nasheed stated was an issue as there is a huge difference between what Maldivian law perceives as terrorism and what the internationally accepted definition was.
Therefore, MP Nasheed that in the past 15 or 16 years, terror charges were tried based on the discretion of the prosecutor. As such, the prosecution can deem the case is a terror case, while the case is not necessarily a terror case.