Prosecution admits to dropping charges against Gen. Didi

Prosecutor General (PG) Office has, for the first time, admitted in court that they had agreed to drop the terror charges on Hithadhoo Central Constituency MP Brigadier General (Rtd) Ibrahim Mohamed Didi.

PG lawyers in court on Thursday admitted to having informed the Parliamentarian of their decision not to pursue the case. The decision was arrived on the orders of then Prosecutor General Muhthaz Muhsin, who had even sent a letter to General Didi informing of the decision.

When the presiding Judge in the hearing on Thursday, questioned the PG whether if the letter was authentic, PG lawyer Aishath Farzana Ahmed said the letter was an authentic one. She also confirmed that the decision was taken then.

The Hithadhoo Central constituency MP was charged with terrorism over the 'unlawful detention' of then Criminal Court chief judge, Abdulla Mohamed, in 2012.

The charges were withdrawn later in 2015, after having been put on hold due to the lawmaker's medical condition. He had to travel abroad due to a heart related issue. The PG office had then said that the main reason the charges were dropped was because prosecutors had not been able to prove the charges against some of the accused.

The letter did not state whether the case can be submitted again after thorough review. Defense lawyers had requested to summon former PG Muhthaz to court to clarify this. This was the second time the defense had put forth to summon the former PG; the Judge had not made a decision on that before.

Defense lawyer, Safa Shareef, added that there was a set precedent that the same case cannot be tried after PG made a decision not to pursue the case.

She further noted that MP General Didi was being charged under a law that was effectively nullified and therefore raised questions on the charges itself.

A total of five prominent figures were arrested and charged with terrorism over the then-Chief Judge's arrest, including former President Mohamed Nasheed, who was issued a 13-year jail sentence over the matter in March 2015.

Defense Minister during Nasheed's administration, Tholhath Ibrahim received a 10-year sentence.

In addition to Nasheed, Ibrahim and Tholhath, terror charges were also raised against then Chief of Defense Force Moosa Ali Jaleel and former Colonel at the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Mohamed Ziyad. However, both were acquitted of the crime.

The next hearing of the case will be held at 3pm on 21st of this month.