Police yet to receive official word on Ali Waheed's arrest
Seven charges were raised against Ali Waheed for sexually assaulting employees at the Tourism Ministry during his tenure
Former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed
Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revealed that no official institutions have provided any information regarding the arrest of the former Tourism Minister, Ali Waheed.
The former Tourism Minister was arrested on the 25th of August in the United Kingdom, while some Maldivian medias were getting ready for a press conference.
Maldives had requested for help through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in order to bring him back to the Maldives to impose the two months and 12 days sentence placed upon him for contempt of court.
It has been reported that Ali Waheed was arrested and locked up, after his visa had expired. Sources report that Waheed is remanded at a prison in Gatwick.
Waheed has sought from authorities to let him remain in the United Kingdom so that he can attend a doctor’s appointment prior to a spine surgery scheduled for September 26. Further, RaajjeMV understands that Waheed has not decided against returning to Maldives nor has he sought refuge from the UK government.
As Thursday marks a week since his arrest, MPS has disclosed that no official institutions have contacted them regarding the former Tourism Minister’s arrest.
Waheed, who traveled to UK after signing a guarantor deal with State Minister Assad Ali, was given a four-month medical leave. He departed shortly after being granted the request to travel, on February 9. The period granted to him ended in June.
Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office filed an appeal request at the country's top court, after the lower court decided to continue the hearings in the trial online, asserting 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.
The Supreme Court had held a hearing in the appeal case earlier this month, where Waheed was ordered to present himself to court. However, he didn’t turn up, with which he was slapped with a prison sentence of two months and 12 days for contempt of court. After the court ruling, police confirmed efforts to arrest the former minister through Interpol and UK authorities.
While the former minister is accused of sexually assaulting ministry employees, seven charges were raised against him in 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.
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.
Waheed claims that the sexual assault allegations against him were “politically motivated”.
