Mohamed Ameen, the alleged Islamic State (IS) leader in the Maldives, was found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to 27 years by the Criminal Court today.
Ameen, who is from Fuvahmulah, was charged with joining a terrorist organization and plotting an act of terrorism.
As he has spent three years in custody, Ameen would have to serve 23 years in prison.
Ameen was previously accused of involvement in the Sultan Park bombing in 2007.
At the time, he was brought back to the Maldives from overseas with an Interpol red notice. He was jailed then and released in 2012.
Ameen was among Maldivians designated as “key leaders and financial facilitators” of terrorist groups by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
According to OFAC, Ameen was a senior member of IS groups that operated in Syria and Afghanistan and his main task was recruiting members for the organization.
