Former Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed has returned to the Maldives.

His return to Maldives comes at a time the Prosecutor General’s Office has dropped all charges raised against him and the Supreme Court sentencing slapped on him, was nullified.

Waheed was charged with several counts of sexual assault on several female employees at the tourism ministry.

He was 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 was 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 in July 2020 after he failed to forward a resignation letter.

Waheed earlier claimed that the sexual assault allegations against him were “politically motivated”.

The former minister returned to Maldives after nearly three years on the run after being prosecuted for the charges.

Speaking to press upon his return, Waheed stated that he sought strength and encouragement from the sports sector, during his time away from home.

Highlighting that the charges against him have been dropped, Waheed stated that, that chapter has now ended.

He stressed that he was stabbed in the back by several political figures who were close to him, back then.

Waheed was arrested through Interpol on 25 August 2021, while in hiding in the UK. He was preparing for a press conference at the time of the arrest. Waheed’s visa expired on 10 August 2021. 12 days after his arrest from the UK. Maldives Police Service (MPS) was officially informed of Waheed’s arrest on 7 September 2021.

MPS had attempted to extradite Waheed with the help of Interpol, for him to do his time as per a Supreme Court sentence issued for contempt of court.

He was given two months and 12 days, for contempt of court, but the charge was later dropped.