High Court orders Qasim Ibrahim's immediate release

The High Court has released Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim from detension.

The court released Qasim on Wednesday citing article 13 of the Parliament Privileges Act, which states that a parliamentarian can only be arrested in relation to an ongoing criminal prosecution at the behest of the Prosecutor General’s Office at superior court.

While the court had ordered the MP’s immediate release, the High Court’s ruling also states that the Criminal Court’s warrant for his arrest was granted outside legal ambit.

Prosecutors had revealed that their office had not asked for a warrant, and that the request for authorization to arrest Qasim was made solely by the police.

Officers arrested and detained him on Thursday on allegations of bribery, attempting to influence the conduct of a public official, and trying to sway a voter.

At Monday’s parliament sitting, speaker Abdulla Maseeh had dismissed the Jumhooree Party’s complaint that Qasim was arrested illegally. Maseeh did so on the grounds that the complaint was submitted outside of procedure.