The Prosecutor General's (PG) Office has appealed the Criminal Court's decision to release former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed's passport, despite an ongoing sexual assault trial.

The Prosecutor General's Office submitted the appeal to High Court on Sunday, in which the Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem revealed that the PG Office had only received documentation regarding the release of Ali Waheed's passport on Thursday at 11:30pm, while Ali Waheed had flown out of the Maldives on Tuesday night following the conclusion of his hearing where his passport was released, that afternoon.

In a press release issued on Thursday, PG Office revealed that the Criminal Court's decision to return former Minister Waheed's passport to him on 9 February was unlawful. The statement further detailed that the hearing had concluded past 4pm on Tuesday, and that no opportunity had been thus given to appeal the decision before Waheed had departed to the United Kingdom that night.

The PG Office went on to affirm that they would be pursuing legal action against the guarantor responsible for Ali Waheed's travel abroad, State Minsiter for Youth and Sports Assad Ali (Adubarey) should Ali Waheed fail to return to the Maldives within the next four months as under the Court order. Assad Ali is a close known associate of Ali Waheed.

Noting that Ali Waheed had previously evaded a trial by fleeing the country, the PG Office said that it would be legitimate to consider him a serious flight-risk. The state highlighted that there was a very real chance Ali Waheed would flee to a foreign country to avoid prosecution, especially in light of the sensitive nature of the allegations raised against him, given the opportunity.

The PG Office raised seven charges pertaining to sexual violence and misconduct against Ali Waheed in November, who was removed from office in July after the allegations made against him by ministry employees were brought to the president’s attention.

Waheed maintains his innocence, claiming that the accusations against him were politically motivated.