Maldives police officially informed of Ali Waheed's arrest

Maldives Police Service (MPS) has officially been informed of former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed’s arrest.

The police institution has received the official word on the disgraced ex-minister’s arrest from United Kingdom authorities, 12 days after his arrest over offenses linked to immigration.

The disgraced ex-minister who has been charged with several counts of sexual assault, was arrested on August 25 while in hiding in the UK, through Interpol. He was preparing for a press conference at the time of the arrest. Ali Waheed’s visa had expired on August 10.

It has since been reported that Waheed is currently detained in a prison located in Gatwick.

Waheed has also 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.

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.

Further, RaajjeMV understands that Waheed has not decided against returning to Maldives nor has he sought refuge from the UK government.

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”.