High Court judges overturn rejection of appeal over Shamaan’s detention

The High Court’s council of judges on Wednesday overturned the decision by the court’s registrar to reject an appealed filed by former Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, over his detention in a corruption case.

Shamaan, 36, was dismissed from his role as the head of Maldives Immigration on March 20. In a statement shortly after the news of his dismissal broke, the police said they were investigating a case involving “several employees of Maldives Immigration who misused their authority to gain undue benefits from expatriate workers.”

Investigators raided Shamaan’s residence in Male’ the same night, and seized MVR 257,475, USD 10,000 and cash in other foreign currencies, as well as electronic devices.

He was arrested on March 21 after he arrived at the Sergeant Adam Haleem Criminal Investigation Building for questioning.

The Criminal Court initially remanded him in custody of the police for 15 days. Shamaan contested his detention with the High Court, but it was rejected by the court's registrar on March 27.

The registrar cited that the claim alone of a legal error by a judge or failure to sufficiently consider evidence or arguments by the appellant or loss of his rights or obstruction of justice is insufficient legal grounds for an appeal unless the claims are properly backed up with legal provisions.

Shamaan appealed the decision with a council of judges. The three-member council that reviewed the decision was composed of judges Huzaifa Mohamed, Fathimath Faruheeza and Mohamed Saleem.

Huzaifa opinioned that the arguments raised by Shamaan merits a legal debate. This opinion was seconded by Faruheeza and Saleem.

The three judges therefore decided on Wednesday to overturn the registrar’s decision and hear the appeal.

While the High Court has now decided to hear Shamaan’s appeal over his original 15-day detention order, the Criminal Court had decided on April 6 to detain the former Immigration in chief in jail pending the outcome of his trial.

The decision was made after Shamaan was brought before a judge for an extension to his remand after his initial 15-day remand period expired.

The police have also arrested four other Immigration officers in connection to the case.

They are:

• Mohamed Alsan Ismail, 21, Moonimaage, Th. Buruni
• Ibrahim Ahmed, 37, G. Happyside, K. Male’
• Hassan Saheshan, 47, G. Happyside, K. Male’
• Ahmed Lassaan, 40, M. Hazaaree Villa, K. Male’

According to the police, their investigation uncovered that three Immigration officers working in sections other than the taskforce or the risk management section – who are usually involved in identifying and detaining irregular expatriates – abused their authority to raid a migrant accommodation building.

Seven expatriates – all of whom were found to have their documents in order - were detained with large amounts of cash in the raid.

A team of Immigration officers specialized in such raids were later brought in. They re-processed the scene, sealed the confiscated evidence and took the expatriates to the Immigration Detention Center.

At midnight on March 13, one of the expatriates – who was taken into custody with MVR 530,000 in cash – was released from detention taken to the Immigration office located at M. Star Cloud.

According to police, the sponsor who came to receive the expatriate is a family member of one of the Immigration officers arrested in the case.

The investigation uncovered that the cash confiscated with the expatriate was put into a bag and given to him when he was released from detention.

The three Immigration officers involved in the raid were seen near Star Cloud as the expatriate’s release was being processed. He left the building on a motorcycle with his sponsor, but stopped at Shaheed Ali Hingun and boarded an Immigration vehicle with one of the officers – who has also been arrested.

The police said the vehicle drove along the roads of Male’ before arriving near the expatriate’s residence. Investigators believe that “certain decisions were made” during this trip.

One of the Immigration officers involved disembarked the vehicle near Star Cloud, while a second one disembarked near the Velana Building. Meanwhile, the officer who disembarked near Star Cloud got on a motorcycle and drove near the Velana Building, and then took out the money bag from the Immigration vehicle and then took it to Shamaan’s residence.

The officers involved in the raid met with the expatriate on the street, took the money from him, and entered the building where Shamaan residences carrying the money.

“CCTV footage shows the bag had a large amount of cash when he entered the house, and the bag was scrunched up into his fist when he exited,” said the police.

Shamaan was appointed as Controller General of Immigration on November 19, 2023 – two days after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu took office.

He previously worked at Immigration for 14 years, before he was fired from his job during the former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration.

He was replaced as the Controller General of Immigration by former Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh mere hours after his dismissal.

Shamaan’s dismissal from the role of Controller General of Immigration came as a surprise to many, as he gained praise for a crackdown on illegal immigration – a longstanding issue in the Maldives.