PG Office heads to Supreme Court with Ali Waheed's online trial case

While the Criminal Court has scheduled an online hearing in former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed's sexual assault trial for Sunday afternoon, the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has filed an appeal request at the country's top court, before the hearing.

The PG Office revealed that they filed the case at the Supreme Court on Sunday, adding that the decision was made after their case was rejected by the High Court last week with claims of no legal basis.

The disgraced minister's sexual assault hearing is scheduled for 3pm on Sunday.

Waheed is currently in the United Kingdom, after traveling there in February this year. The Criminal Court allowed him to travel out of the country after nullifying a passport seizure order; he left the same day the order was issued.

Criminal Court Judge Hassan Saeed decided to proceed the trial online after a request by Waheed, claiming his treatment was incomplete.

PG Hussain Shameem has expressed disappointment over the court’s decision to allow Ali Waheed to travel abroad, calling it unlawful.

The PG Office continues to voice concern against the trial proceeding online, stressing that a court hearing should be held where the state can implement the verdict of a Maldivian court.

As such the PG Office cited that holding the hearing for a criminal trial online with the accused currently outside of the Maldives, is in violation of the Maldives Criminal Procedure Code and that the court does not presently have the jurisdiction to penalize the accused.

Ali Waheed, who traveled to UK after signing a guarantor deal with State Minister Assad Ali, was given a four-month medical leave.

Seven charges were raised against the disgraced ex-minister during November 2020, including one count of attempted rape, one count of sexual abuse, one count of indecent exposure, one count of sexual harassment and one count of attempted sexual harassment. He is also charged with two counts of solicitation of sexual favors.

Waheed is accused of sexually assaulting ministry employees during resorts trips, Waheed is also accused to sexually harassing ruling coalition partner, Jumhooree Party (JP) member and Transport Minister Aishath Nahula. JP council proposed to dismiss Ali Waheed as the party’s leader in July.

Following the allegations against Waheed, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ordered him to resign and consecutively stripped him from the ministerial post after he failed to forward a resignation letter.

The PG Office forwarded the charges against Waheed to the Criminal Court on 18 November 2020.

Speaking to media outside of the police headquarters after being summoned for questioning in 2020, Waheed had said that the sexual assault allegations against him were “politically motivated”, stressing that the truth will be exposed once the investigations were completed and that justice "must be served".