Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was transferred back to Maafushi Prison for violating regulations, reveals Maldives Correctional Service.
In a statement released on Thursday in response to the statement released by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) on the 08th of January regarding the matter, MCS stated that transfers to house arrest are made under powers granted to the service under the Prisons and Parole Act law 14/2013.
While conditions apply to the transfer, the convict and the person responsible for the convict are required to sign an agreement which, if violated, decrees the MCS to transfer the convict back to prison as mandated.
The statement further reads that although reports have it that the service was instructed to follow a certain recommendation by a urologist who treated the former VP on the 27th of November, the doctor’s recommendation in fact instructed the MCS to keep him a “homely environment”.
MCS stated that Adeeb was transferred back to prison as the service had not observed a health deterioration that could not be treated in prison, during the time he was in house arrest, going on to assure that the service will not violate human rights when providing services for convicts.
The service had however not revealed what part of the agreement Adeeb had violated to be transferred back to prison.
HRCM on Tuesday released a statement stressing that the MCS had returned the former VP back to prison too early even if the urology specialist at IGMH had recommended him to be allowed a transfer to house arrest for six to eight weeks while he is being treated. HRCM also stated that the MCS is required to follow doctor’s recommendation when dealing with convicts as stated under the Prisons and Parole Act.
Under the doctor’s recommendation, Adeeb was transferred to house arrest on the 27th of November 2018 and corrections officers had taken him back to Maafushi Prison on the 02nd of January. During his time under house arrest, Adeeb carried out various political activities including forming a party; he was also appointed as the president of the party- Maldives Third-Way Democrats (MTD).
