Friday
22nd Nov 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed
High court hearing regarding the release of former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed's passport was brought to a halt today.
The state appealed the Criminal Court’s decision after Ali Waheed left, the same night his passport was released. Ali Waheed is being prosecuted on a number of charges, relating to sexual harassment, rape and assault of his staff.
The hearing had to be halted because the state did not have Ali Waheed's current residence, and the court could not deliver his summons to him. This is in turn prompted a lot of questions from the judges bench.
The hearing began at 03:00 PM today, and the judges bench questioned the state. While addressing the court at the beginning of the hearing, the Chair of the bench Judge Mohamed Faisal detailed the efforts of the court in trying to deliver Ali Waheed's summons.
The court stated that they had delivered Ali Waheed's summons to the address provided by the state, and that it had failed to reach him. They further stated that they had emailed, an email address provided by the state and had also sent the summons via WhatsApp. The court added that they could not confirm whether Ali Waheed received the summons or not.
Ali Waheed had left the Maldives, the night his passport was released by the Criminal Court. It is being speculated that he has gone to the UK via the Turkish route.