PGO to appeal Ali Waheed case at Supreme Court

The Prosecutor General's Office will now be appealing the case of former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed's departure from the Maldives to the Supreme Court, after the High Court refused their initial appeal.

Former Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed is believed to have fled the country to avoid standing trial. Ali Waheed is charged with seven counts of sexual violence, including attempted rape and inflicting sexual injury, and was removed from the cabinet by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih last year once the allegations against him surfaced. He left the Maldives early in February 2021, after the Criminal Court illegitimately released his passport, with Ali Waheed's close known associate and State Minister for Youth and Sports Assad Ali signed on as his guarantor prior to his departure.

The PGO had appealed the Criminal Court's decision to release Ali Waheed's passport to the High Court first, but the High Court had refused the appeal, citing that the PGO would need to clarify Ali Waheed's current address so that a chit may be sent to him in relation to the case.

Since then, the Prosecutor General's Office has confirmed that they will be appealing the case to the Supreme Court. The PGO has previously asserted that it was not their prerogative to find out which address the accused is residing at this time, and that Ali Waheed had departed from the Maldives before the Criminal Court had released his passport.

The Maldives' disgraced ex-Tourism Minsiter Ali Waheed, who faces seven charges of sexual violence in court, is reported to have left the Maldives one day before the Criminal Court had issued an order to release his passport. Raajje MV has learned that Ali Waheed, who first departed the Maldives at 11:30pm on 9 February 2021, had arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, disproving earlier assumptions that he had travelled to the UK to seek medical care as mentioned during court proceedings. The PGO has previously stated that Ali Waheed may be considered a serious flight-risk as he has previously fled the country to evade standing trial in the past.