Charges have been filed against Dr. Shazra Ibrahim and Aishath Shadiya who were arrested while protesting near foreign embassies calling for an end to Israel's genocide against Palestinians.
Shadiya and Dr. Shazra Ibrahim were arrested under a Criminal Court order for repeatedly gathering near diplomatic missions in violation of the Peaceful Assembly Act, acting in a way that harassed a particular ambassador, and obstructing police duties.
Shadiya and Shazra were arrested on August 28 and were held in custody for nine days before being released on conditional bail.
On October 8, the High Court ruled that the Criminal Court's order to detain Shadiya was invalid.
Shadiya appealed the Criminal Court's remand order at the High Court.
On October 8, the High Court ruled that the Criminal Court's order was issued in violation of Article 13(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code. It was ruled that Shadiya’s arrest and remand were illegal.
The High Court stated that the Criminal Court, when issuing the order did not clarify how Shadiya posed a threat to public safety.
The High Court ruling also stated that although there may be evidence to suspect Shadiya, the court's decision to detain her was against the law.
Following the Criminal Court order, Shadiya was remanded twice for periods of three and five days.
The appeal case of the Criminal Court's verdict was heard by a bench of three judges at the High Court; Chief Justice Huzaifa Mohamed, Judge Hassan Shafeeu, and Judge Abdul Maniu Hussain.
Before the deadline for re-filing charges expired, the Prosecutor General's Office filed charges against the two.
These are charges under Section 533 of the Penal Code for obstructing other state functions (basic punishment: imprisonment for four months and 24 days) and under Section 615 of the Penal Code for knowingly making unreasonable noise in a public place that would cause inconvenience, or alarm others (basic punishment: imprisonment for one month and six days).
If convicted of these two charges, they face a jail sentence of six months.
