Man Convicted of Mosque Vandalism Released After Pre-Trial Detention Exceeds Sentence

The Criminal Court has sentenced Naushad Moosa to prison after finding him guilty of causing damage to a mosque.

Regarding this case, according to information shared with the media by the police, the Criminal Court sentenced Naushad Moosa on November 1, 2026.

The Criminal Court has sentenced Naushad Moosa to one month and 15 days in prison after finding him guilty of damaging a mosque. However, the court's verdict noted that he has already spent a significant amount of time in custody under a prior court order, which mandated his detention pending the conclusion of the trial.

In this regard, court records indicate that Naushad Moosa spent one month and 21 days in custody during the trial proceedings. Under the established legal principles of the Maldives, any period a person spends in detention pending trial must be deducted from their final sentence upon conviction.

Under these regulations, the Criminal Court has determined that Naushad Moosa has no further prison sentence to serve, as the time he spent in pre-trial detention has been deducted from his final sentence. The court noted that the 1 month and 21 days he spent in custody exceeded the actual sentence of 1 month and 15 days handed down against him.

The Criminal Court has vacated its previous order to remand Naushad Moosa in custody pending the outcome of his trial, as there are no further legal grounds to justify his continued detention. Following the court's decision to annul the order, he has now been released from custody.

The suspect was arrested in September on allegations of entering Masjid al-Furqan at approximately 04:14 AM on September 10, 2026, and committing an act of public indecency that desecrated the mosque by urinating or defecating inside the premises. He has a prior record of similar offenses, including a previous arrest in November 2024 for a comparable incident.