The High Court has upheld the order to remand former Controller General of Immigration Mohamed Shamaan Waheed until the end of his trial.

The High Court maintained the Criminal Court's remand order after Shamaan appealed it. The hearing was held on Tuesday at 1:15pm.

The Criminal Court ordered Shamaan's detention for 15 days on March 22. Although Shamaan appealed his detention case to the High Court on March 26, the court initially rejected the case. However, Shamaan's side appealed the Registrar's decision to the High Court judges' panel. On April 9, the three judges unanimously decided that the case should be heard.

Shamaan is currently in detention pending trial. While Shamaan has appealed his detention case to the High Court, he was arrested under a court order in connection with allegations that some Maldives Immigration employees were misusing their official influence to obtain undue benefits from foreign workers.

In the case Shamaan filed with the High Court on March 26, it was stated that the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the standard for allowing an appeal can be met by merely claiming that the judge made a legal error, or that rights were violated, or that justice was obstructed.

In the case filed by Shamaan, it was stated that while Shamaan is suspected of corruption-related money, money laundering investigations cannot be conducted at all without investigating corruption cases. It also stated that the police conducting the investigation without involvement of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was entirely against the law governing investigations.

In the verdict announced on Tuesday, it was stated that although Shamaan's side highlighted that the police conducting the investigation without the involvement of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was against the Criminal Procedure Act, the High Court ruled that it was not illegal. The verdict also stated that the police alone could conduct the investigation. In addition to this, the verdict mentioned that Shamaan's side had not presented a legal argument strong enough to overturn the decision to detain him until the end of the trial.

Two orders to detain Shamaan until the end of the trial were appealed in the High Court. In the High Court hearing, the three-judge panel unanimously decided that there were no grounds to nullify either case.

The case was heard by Judge Hassan Shafeeu, Judge Mohamed Niyaz, and Judge Abdul Maniu Hussain. Judge Shafeeu presided over the bench.

Shamaan was arrested when he reported to Henveiru Police Station on the night of Friday, March 21, to sign the inventory of items taken by police after searching his residence.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has said that a foreigner was released with MVR 530,000 on Shamaan's order. In connection with the case, police have searched Shamaan's residence and taken a large amount of money and electronic equipment into police custody.

The four people arrested in the case besides Shamaan are Mohamed Alsan Ismail, 21, native to Buruni island of Thaa atoll, Ibrahim Ahmed, 37 and Hassan Saheshan, 47, native to capital Malé City. These three suspects were arrested on the night of March 20. On March 21, Ahmed Lassan, 40, native to capital Malé City was arrested.

In addition to this, police said that two people have been barred from leaving the country under a court order in connection with the case. They also said that a phone belonging to a member of Shamaan's family was confiscated under a court order.

Shamaan's family has said that the sudden dismissal of former Controller General of Immigration Shamaan Waheed from his position is not a coincidence, and that Shamaan was arrested within 24 hours of a foreigner connected to Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan being brought under Immigration custody.

In a statement released on the night of April 23, Shamaan's family said that when the foreigner was brought into Immigration custody, Minister Ihusaan had called Shamaan and instructed him to hand over the foreigner's phone to a specific police officer.

However, Shamaan responded that the request could only be processed through an official note. According to the statement, upon hearing this, the home minister allegedly raised his voice and abruptly ended the call.

Shamaan’s family claims he was arrested and remanded until the end of the trial based on false accusations and fabricated, invalid evidence. They went on to allege that the actions were motivated by Ihusaan’s personal and political animosity toward Shamaan.