Male’, Maldives – Locals have started a petition on change.org to the parliament of the UK, requesting to deport alleged sex offender Ali Waheed from the UK.
Ali Waheed is summoned by the Maldives Supreme Court to be tried for 7 charges of sex offences.
The petition was created by Hassan Kurusee calling to deport Ali Waheed from the country so that he can face the trials for the current charges against him. The petition has currently received over 100 signatures and continues to receive more.
The petition requests Her Majesty’s Government – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to arrest and deport former Tourism Minister of Maldives, Ali Waheed, from the UK immediately.
Stating the charges against Ali Waheed, the petition stated that it is highly likely Ali Waheed might choose to permanently reside in the UK and avoid the trials and that Ali Waheed was previously granted political asylum in the UK under the 1952 Geneva Convention back in 2015/16.
We request Her Majesty’s Government to cancel his visa, arrest him and deport Ali Waheed back to Maldives as soon as possible. We consider every single day that passes by without the UK government taking any action against him as harbouring a rapist in UK
The Prosecutor General’s Office is charging the suspect Ali Waheed with a total of seven counts of sexual offences at the Criminal Court of the Maldives. These being;
- One count of sexual abuse under article 16 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)
- One count of attempted rape under article 15 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)
- One count of indecent exposure under article 132 of The Constitution of Maldives
- One count of sexual harassment under article 18 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)
- One count of attempted sexual abuse under article 19 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)
- Two counts of unlawful sexual contact under article 81 and 412 of Maldives Penal Code 9/2014.
Ali Waheed fled from the country after his passport was released due to a medical emergency. He was initially scheduled to arrive in the Maldives in early June as his medical treatment duration of 4 months had expired. However, Waheed did not return to the country and no explanation was revealed until the Criminal Court recently informed that Ali Waheed contacted the court to inform that his medical procedure has not finished yet along with valid documents supporting his statement.
Waheed was fired on July 9, 2020, marking the first time a cabinet minister was fired over allegations of sexual abuse to his co-workers after he failed to tender his resignation as per the order of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
In addition to the sexual harassment case, Ali Waheed is also under investigation by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) regarding eight different issues which were highlighted in the compliance report published by the Auditor General’s Office, concerning the expenses made by the Ministry of Tourism with regards to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
To date, Ali Waheed has denied all the charges that were raised against him. However, if he is found guilty of the charges levied against him, Waheed will face up to 21 years imprisonment.
