PG Office withdraws charges against Nasheed

Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has withdrawn the charges filed by the State against former President Mohamed Nasheed, regarding the arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

Sources have told Sun Online that the charges were withdrawn to conduct further investigations.

In addition to the charges against Nasheed, PG Office has also withdrawn the charges against then Chief of Defence Force, Minister of Defence Moosa Ali Jaleel; then Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Malé Area Commander, Hithadhoo-Medhu MP Ibrahim Mohamed Didi; as well as then Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan.

Speaking to reporters outside High Court regarding the withdrawal of the charges today, Nasheed said that it was sad that the case had dragged on for so long.

He said that no one should be subjected to unjust punishment, and that he would always strive to establish a transparent and fair system in the Maldives.

In addition to Nasheed, the protest outside High Court – against the arrest of former Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim last month - was also attended by many senior members of MDP, MDP supporters, and Leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim.

Gasim told reporters that Nasheed, despite the ongoing court case, gained a large percentage of votes at the Presidential Election in 2013.

He also noted that many foreign groups have criticised and expressed concern over the charges against the former president.

Gasim said that Nasheed resigned as demanded by protesters following the arrest of Judge Abdulla, and that the charges against him were “no longer relevant”.

At the time of publication, PG Office was unavailable for a comment regarding the withdrawal of the charges.