The Parliament of the Maldives has passed the amendment bills to the Penal Code of the Maldives aimed at stopping acts of hatred, and the spread of anti-Islamic views.
The two bills were passed by the parliament on November 16, with the amendments brought during committee review following initial concerns on the bills. The parliament passed the two bills together, with votes from 50 parliamentarians.
The government had proposed the bill on acts of hatred, to specify certain acts of hatred as criminal offences. The bill aims to prevent lives from being threatened due to being labelled as an infidel or an apostate. As such, the bill stated acts such as calling a Muslim an apostate / infidel and promoting violence against an individual over a perceived lack of religious faith are criminal offences.
However, many religious scholars expressed concern that the bill would provide unlimited freedom for people to express anti-Islamic views and disrupt the religious harmony of the country. Due to these concerns, a separate bill was introduced to ban the spread of anti-Islamic views.
The Parliamentary Committee on Judiciary brought some important changes to the bill on acts of hatred during the review stage. As such, the final bill included a more precise definition of the “acts of hatred” which were to be penalised, and a clause that states explaining the teachings of Islam cannot be classified as an act of hatred. The bill also includes a detailed definition of Takfir, or the action or practice of declaring that a fellow Muslim is guilty of apostasy.
Furthermore, the committee also brought changes to the bill on stopping the spread of anti-Islamic views, with more detailed explanation of the acts which can be classified as offences.