Malé, Maldives – The Prosecutor General’s Office has decided not to appeal to the high court regarding the dismissal of the case of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) / People’s National Congress (PNC) Coalition’s temporary leader and President of PNC Abdul Raheem Abdullah (Adhurey)’s use of foul language by the Criminal Court.
Public Prosecutor Ahmed Shafeeu told local media Adhadhu that the PG’s office has decided not to continue with Abdu Raheem’s case.
Abdul Raheem was charged under the Penal Code section 615, after he used offensive language while talking about the Criminal Court judges in a protest outside the Criminal Court on November 28, 2019, the day on which former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
In the preliminary hearings of the case, the Judge Hassan Saeed concluded that the Police had found evidence of the case by going against the Criminal Law. He stated that the samples for the audio and video report were taken against Article 48 of the Criminal Law.
Article 48 states that “everyone has the right on arrest or detention to remain silent, except to establish identity, and to be informed of this right”.
Due to the conclusion that the two major evidences cannot be taken into account, the other evidences did not suffice for the case to be continued in the Criminal Court. The punishment for use of obscene words is to spend a month and six days in jail. If the person confesses, then the sentence is reduced to 27 days in jail.
