President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced last night that due to government policies, Maldivian youth are no longer engaged in gangs, and hence there are no longer any groups to be classed as gangs through court.
While the Prevention of Gang Crimes and Other Serious Offences Act was ratified in August, no groups have been classed as gangs under this Act as of yet.
As per the Act, the Home Minister can appeal to the courts to class specific groups as gangs. The Act outlines the criteria through which a group can be classed as a gang.
Speaking at the ceremony held last night to mark the two year anniversary of this administration, President Muizzu stated that he had enquired of the Home Minister how many groups have been classed as gangs under this Act. He said that the Minister had informed him that there are no groups that meet the criteria to be classed as gangs.
“All those who were in gangs before have now ceased to do so. They have given up gang crimes and these youth are now engaged in business and and are leading dignified, normal lives,” the President said.
The President went on to claim that there are now very few individuals engaged in what is considered gang crimes, and said that the Home Ministry informed him that they cannot find any groups to classify as gangs.
“This is a huge step forward. For gangs to be eradicated from here. We are taking very strong measures against gangs,” the President stated.
President Muizzu stated that laws with harsh penalties are passed not for the purpose of punishing individuals, but rather to prevent individuals from taking up lives of crime. The results of this are evident with the Gang Act, he said.
Should there still be any gangs active in the country, the Home Ministry will, through the Prosecutor General’s Office, declare them classed as gangs, he said, after which necessary action within the law will be taken against them.
“Once a group is classed as a gang, all penalties set in the law will be taken against them. That is how it should be done. We are working on resolving the gang issue through this,” he said.
The President said that he does not wish to see gangs commit crimes in society and appealed to any persons engaged in gang activity to give up those actions and return to a lawful life.
