The Maldives government has approved the death penalty and will soon enact regulations on the process of execution, local media reported here on Monday.

Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali was quoted as saying the government has observed increasing murders in the Maldives and agreed the execution of death penalty is possible in accordance with existing laws.

After discussions, the Maldives Cabinet decided to draft detailed regulations on how actions will be taken in investigations and prosecutions with regards to the death penalty, Muaz said.

The regulations will grant all the constitutional rights to the suspect, and include the matters the prosecutor general must confirm before the prosecution begins, local media outlet Haveeru reported.

The ministers also decided to include in the regulations how to act in communicating with the relatives of the deceased and that a sentence shall be made on such a case based on the decision of the Supreme Court.

The cabinet also advised the president on creating means to determine if everything has been completed lawfully in the procedures leading to the implementation of death penalty. The president was also advised that death by lethal injection was the best option and that this must be included in the regulations.

Home minister Umar Naseer has issued an order on Correctional Services to make preparations to implement death sentences, requiring the use of lethal injection for execution.

The order requires the use of lethal injection for execution, and the penalty be carried out at Maafushi prison.

The latest death sentence was handed to Hussain Humam, the prime suspect in the murder of former Ungoofaru Member of Parliament Dr. Afrasheem Ali.

Afrasheem was found stabbed to death on the stairway of his apartment building on the night of Oct. 1, 2012.

Humam had denied the murder charges despite confessing to the crime in a previous hearing. But the court referred to his previous confession and found him guilty of the murder charges last Thursday.

Twenty people have been sentenced to death so far. The High Court overturned the sentence of one of the convicts, whilst the rest have been stalled at the appeal court.