News Desk
The indefinite jailing of criminal suspects, a practice known as “vaanuvaa” in the Maldives, has become an intractable problem straining the country’s overburdened criminal justice system.
The Maafushi prison, the country’s largest, is severely overcrowded with detainees whose cases languish for years before seeing the inside of a courtroom. The bottleneck reflects not a surge in crime but flaws in dispensing justice and managing caseloads that have plagued successive administrations.
On Tuesday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, just months into his term, reiterated a campaign vow to abolish vaanuvaa, responding to a plea from a citizen, Nasheedha Hassan, a mother of four from the island of M. Mulaku. Ms. Hassan tearfully described her struggle after her husband’s arrest two years ago on undisclosed charges. One of her children has a disability.
“I became hopeful after President Muizzu pledged an end to such detentions,” Ms. Hassan said during Mr. Muizzu’s occasional video question-and-answer session with citizens. Witness statements, she added, suggest her husband is innocent.
Dr. Muizzu called the issue “a pressing issue” and said ending indefinite detention remained a top priority for his administration, with “efforts already underway” on legal reforms to streamline investigations and preliminary hearings.
