The Prosecutor General's (PG) office has withdrawn charges raised against former tourism minister Ali Waheed over the alleged sexual assault of female staff.
After Ali Waheed left the Maldives while the trial was ongoing at the criminal court and did not return, the court sent the case back to the PG office on September 22, 2022. The PG office sent the case back to the police on October 6, 2022 with a request to forward it when he returns.
In a statement released today, the PG office said that the victims and witnesses who gave statements have since written letters to both the PG office and the police saying they no longer wished to proceed with the case. Key witnesses in the case have been repeatedly writing to the police to retract the statements that they gave to the investigation, the PG office said.
The wishes of the witnesses and alleged witnesses were cleared up during meetings held in light of their letters, the PG office statement said. As they wished to retract their statements, the PG office said it decided to withdraw the charges since the case cannot continue without witness testimony.
"When the case was studied to see whether the prosecution could continue without their testimony, as the main evidence in the case was the testimony of the victims and witnesses, and as there is no path to convict without their testimony, this office determined on 6 June 2023 to not proceed with the aforementioned charges and that the case has been withdrawn," the PG office statement read.
Despite the withdrawal of charges, Ali Waheed was previously sentenced to two months and 12 days in jail for contempt of court over the failure to attend an appeal hearing at the Supreme Court. The sentence would have to be enforced even if he returns to the Maldives.
The charges
Ali Waheed fled the Maldives on February 10, 2021. Despite an order issued on November 28, 2021 to bring him to court under arrest, he has not been brought back to the country so far.
Ali Waheed went to the UK after the criminal court lifted a travel ban and authorized him to fly overseas for medical treatment. His passport was released after the youth ministry's state minister Assad Ali agreed to stand as a guarantor. Ali Waheed did not return when the period of the agreement expired.
The state appealed the criminal court's decision at both the high court and Supreme Court. But the cases filed at the high court and Supreme Court to withhold his passport were rejected over the failure to deliver summons to Ali Waheed as his whereabouts were unknown.
The PG office then sought an order from the criminal court for the second time to hold Ali Waheed's passport. The refusal to grant the order was appealed but the high court decided it could not hear the case in Ali Waheed's absence.
Ali Waheed was charged with sexual assault, sexual abuse, attempted sexual abuse, attempted rape, indecent exposure and soliciting unlawful sexual contact.
When Ali Waheed refused to resign as told by president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih after he was accused, he was sacked on July 9, 2020.
