Malé, Maldives – Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Tuesday revealed that the highest number of public defenders were appointed in the first six months of 2022 for juvenile offenders.
Statistics from January to June 2022 reveals that the of the 77 public defenders appointed, 40 were for minors while 37 were allocated for adults. 16 foreigners were also granted legal aid.
Nine applicants did not receive legal aid due to failure to meet requirements.
While those under 18 were the highest category for legal aid with 40 defendants, only 4 people over the age of 51 received legal aid.
The highest number of juveniles were arrested for drug related offenses (16) and violent crime (14) while stealing (5), sexual offenses (4), property damage (3), threatening (2) and murder (2) were also highlighted.
Of adult crimes, 22 suspects were granted legal aid for child sexual abuse cases while 31 cases were for drug related offenses.
