GDh. Atoll, Maldives – Alleged child sex offender Mohamed Ahmed of Vincent, GDh. Gadhdhoo, was remanded again today after being released by Gadhdhoo Magistrate Court.
Prosecutor General (PG) stated that the verdict of the Gadhdhoo Magistrate Court to release Mohamed Ahmed from jail on May 3, was overruled by the High Court today. This resulted in Mohamed Ahmed being remanded again.
Mohamed Ahmed was elected as the council President while he was under the custody of the police for three charges of child sexual offences. Mohamed Ahmed has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor in 2015 during his council Presidency; additionally charged with exposing a minor to pornographic material, possession of pornographic material in 2020.
The accusations made in 2015, are still in the Gadhdhoo Magistrate Court. These were still ongoing when he was elected as the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)’s candidate for Gadhdhoo Council President by the Local Council Election held on April 10.
PPM and PNC released a statement on 18 March 2021 addressing this matter. In the statement, the party stated that the legal team of PPM is investigating the issue regarding the charges against their candidate for Gadhdhoo constituency. The opposition coalition said that they did not condone and will not tolerate sexual crimes and will take action. However, there were no further updates from the matter from the opposition parties.
The Elections Commission (EC) President Ahmed Shareef said in a statement to the press that having charges against an alleged crime is not grounds for prohibition from running for office.
