Male’, Maldives – The Maldivian High Court has ruled that the release of five individuals arrested with 1kg of drugs on the 14th of September 2020 was done illegally.
The High Court declared this after the government appealed the Criminal Court’s earlier decision to release the people apprehended in a drug bust in Male’. They were released after the court decided they ‘posed no threat to society’.
When looking at the main three points highlighted from case number A-SC/2011/33 of the Supreme Court, in the verdict declared by the High Court today, it was stated that illegal drugs and the trafficking of such items, due to their nature, causes great harm to communities, and thus is considered as an offence which poses a great threat to society.
In addition to this, they added that it is known that such offences are classified as very serous offences and that unless the Supreme Court states otherwise, they are to be considered offences which pose a great threat to society, and lower courts cannot decide otherwise.
They further stated that while the criminal court decided on the matter, there was enough evidence linking the crime to the suspects, and that it was observed that this was substantial enough that judges believe the suspects can be prosecuted.
Due to this, the High Court has decided that the Criminal Court’s verdict was handed out unlawfully, and that the verdict is to be overturned, with a decision on the 5 released inidvualds to be remanded until court proceedings are completed to be done again within 6 days of the Prosecutor General’s Office submitting the issue to Criminal Court.
