Malé, Maldives – The Criminal Court of Maldives is expected to schedule a hearing against fugitive Ali Waheed’s guarantor Ashad Ali upon his failure to present Ali Waheed at the Criminal Court within 72 hours.
State Minister for Youth and Sports Ashad Ali was ordered by the Criminal Court to produce Ali Waheed for the criminal trial for 7 counts of sex offences on 28 November 2021.
The hearing for Ashad Ali is to be scheduled on a later date due to the presiding judge being on leave reports local news Dhauru.
Ashad faces either one year in prison, upto two years in house arrest, or a fine upto MVR 15,000 according to the Maldives Criminal Procedure Code (Act No. 12/2016).
Alleged sexual offender Ali Waheed exited Maldives after assigning State Minister for Youth and Sports Assad Ali as his guarantor prior to his departure.
The court has also issued an arrest warrant for former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed for failure to appear in court following repeated summons. The authorities are not in the process of seeking an Interpol red notice to bring back Waheed to the Maldives.
Ali Waheed still remains in the UK and has yet to return to the Maldives despite a Supreme Court jail sentence for contempt of court.
