Former tourism minister Ali Waheed has said that his remarks alleging President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of accepting money from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal was a "smokescreen."
Speaking to reporters following his return to the Maldives after three years of living abroad, Ali Waheed said the government did not influence the alleged sexual assault cases lodged against him.
He returned after the Prosecutor General's (PG) office dropped charges and after the Supreme Court annulled a contempt of court sentence of two months and 12 days for failing to respond to a summons to appear for a hearing.
During a press conference held earlier, Ali Waheed criticized the government and claimed the cases against him were fabricated to frame him for political reasons. He also made several accusations against Solih at the time.
"I can say, without any hesitation, that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had also carried the black bags. Very clearly. Yes, he [the President] carried a black bag," he said, accusing Solih of involvement in the MMPRC scandal.
However, when questioned today, Ali Waheed described his comments as a smokescreen. He denied making false statements during the three-hour-long press conference and claimed that it was a "drama to find those who framed" him.
But he retracted the allegations against Solih, saying that the President is not someone who needs to take MVR 35 million since he is a lot more affluent.
When questioned about those who were behind framing him, Ali Waheed refused to name them. But he said it was not done by Solih or jailed former President and opposition leader Abdulla Yameen.
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 was not brought back to the country.
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 asked by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih after he was accused, he was sacked on July 9, 2020.
