130kg drug bust: hearing halted as witnesses could not be summoned

A hearing in relation to the 130 kilos of drugs that were suspected of being smuggled into the Maldives by locals with the help of foreign parties, has been cancelled.

Shaheeb Ibrahim, native to Villingili island in Gaaf Alif atoll and Ahmed Moosa, native to Hoarafushi island of Haa Alif atoll are charged in connection with the case.

They are to have been involved in the case, as masterminds behind the drug trade.

Further, charged were also raised against Aseel Mahir, Anas Hussain, Mohamed Riyad and a Bangladeshi national, Iqbal.

Presiding over the case is Judge Ahmed Shakeel.

The last hearing in connection with the drug smuggling case was held on 25 January 2023.

During the last hearing, the state first gave its inaugural statement separately in connection with the accused.

Overall, the prosecution produced only one piece of evidence in connection with the case.

The Prosecutor General's Office has filed three charges against the six suspects.

As such, they have been charged with smuggling drugs into the Maldives, trafficking drugs as well as for the trafficking of diamorphine.

Following this, the suspects had given their preliminary statements, all of whom denied the charges raised against them.

Wednesday’s hearing was initially scheduled to collect witness testimonies.

However, the hearing was cancelled as the witnesses could not be summoned to the hearing.

In a hearing held on January 15, a decision was reached regarding the preliminary statements.

The state prosecutors submitted only one statement regarding the charges raised against Shaheeb. Which is to not accept the defense witnesses submitted by him.

Noting that Shaheeb submitted evidence that state that he was not at the scene of the crime, state prosecutors noted that if the accused takes this stand, this information needs to be submitted during the investigation stage as per the Article 122 of Penal Code.

They noted that if the defendant had made this stand during the investigation stage, the state would have had the chance to verify if he was telling the truth or not. The state prosecutors said that Shaheeb however did not say any such thing during the investigation stage.

Judge Shakeel decided to approve the statement submitted by the state.

The defense had also submitted statements appealing the court to not accept some of the evidence put forward by the state, saying that these evidences does not have a clear relation to Shaheeb.

However, in reference to a decision made by the High Court, Judge Shakeel decided to not accept these statements of the defense.

The defense lawyers, also submitted statements to not accept the statements of the others accused in the same case. However, stating that the state has submitted evidence that gives more strength to these, Judge Shakeel decided to not accept this as well.

The third statement of the defense was that the state had not submitted enough evidence against Shaheeb, and that the hearings of the case needed to be cancelled. This statement was also not accepted by the Judge.

Judge Shakeel stated that hearings to take testimonials will be held during February. He also stated that the estimated date for the summary statement hearing is 27 April.

Judge Shakeel noted that the verdict hearing of the case is projected to be held at 01:00 pm on 25 May, 2023.