MALDIVES: SUPREME COURT QUASHES NAIFARU WOMAN’S DEATH SENTENCE

The Supreme Court of the Maldives on 7 January 2019 quashed a magistrate court verdict of death by stoning, passed against a woman for extramarital sex.
The apex court said in a statement that the verdict, which refers to the penal code, violates the Sexual Offenses Act, passed in 2014.
Magistrate Judge Mohamed Moosa passed the sentence in absentia solely based on the woman’s confession; that she had committed fornication and had once before been married.