PGO still undecided on charges against Luthufee

It has been revealed that the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) is still undecided on the case regarding Abdulla Luthufee, the mastermind behind the 1988 coup d’état.

The fugitive is currently doing time at Maafushi Prison after being extradited to the Maldives in May, following Luthufee turning himself into the Maldives embassy in Colombo on May 1, after the neighbouring country launched a nation-wide search following the Easter Sunday terror attacks. This was only revealed to the public on 24 June.

Minister of Home Affairs Sheikh Imran Abdulla revealed that the fugitive’s case was forwarded to the PGO at the end of last year.

Speaking to RaajjeMV regarding Luthufee's case, public prosecutor at the PGO, Ahmed Shafeeu disclosed that the case is currently at the "duty prosecution" stage and that discussion regarding the case between the PGO and the Maldives Police Service (MPS) is still ongoing.

Nevertheless, the PGO has yet to officially accept the charges against Luthufee.

Luthufee- convicted and sentenced to life over the 1988 attempted coup - had been in hiding since being granted medical leave in 2010.

The attempted coup in capital city Malé on 3 November 1988 by a Sri Lankan militant group took the lives of 19 Maldivians. Due to Luthufee’s involvement, he was initially sentenced to death, which was reduced to life imprisonment by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

While he was granted medical leave during former President and current Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, the former administration of Abdulla Yameen was observed to be negligent in the case as well.