Two jailed over oil attack on Mandhy

The Criminal Court has sentenced two individuals to approximately one and a half months in prison after they confessed to the engine oil attack on Mariyam ‘Mandhy’ Zubair, an activist from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The individuals have been identified as Ahmed Rishmah, Sunlight Villa, GA. Dhandhoo and Ahmed Raiham Naeem, M. Chorus, Male’.

The state brought two charges against both individuals: aiding and abetting in property damage, and aiding and abetting in battery.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges during the trial. Rishmah was initially sentenced to one month and six days for aiding and abetting in property damage. However, after deducting the time he had already spent in pre-trial detention, his remaining sentence was reduced to 20 days. He was also sentenced to 18 days for aiding and abetting in battery, bringing his total remaining prison term to 38 days.

Raiham, who also pleaded guilty to both charges, was sentenced to 27 days for property damage and 13 days for battery.

The incident occurred on the night of March 17 last year near Woodberry Restaurant in Malé. Mandhy, the mother of  South GalolhuMP Meekail Naseem, was riding home on a motorcycle after participating in a series of MDP protests when she was targeted with black oil.

According to official records, Ahmed Rishmah has a previous arrest record in connection with a drug-related offense. Ahmed Raiham had previously been among those arrested in connection with a robbery at Velana International Airport, during which a substantial amount of cash was stolen from Bank of Maldives employees.