High Court Revives Prosecution Challenge to Criminal Court Release Order
Ali Anwar Mohamed, who was arrested in connection with a major drug case. | Photo: Police
A High Court judges’ panel has overturned a registrar’s decision to reject the state’s appeal against the Criminal Court’s order to release Ali Anwar Mohamed, who was arrested in connection with a major drug case.
Ali Anwar was detained in October as part of a drug operation. He has previously faced arrest in 2019 over the smuggling of 70 kilograms of drugs into the Maldives from an Iranian boat.
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After his October arrest, the Criminal Court ordered Ali Anwar’s release without any conditions. The state appealed that decision, seeking to overturn the release order.
However, the High Court registrar rejected the appeal, stating the state had not provided any justification showing that the Criminal Court’s decision was wrong. Prosecutors then submitted the matter to the High Court, asking it to overturn the registrar’s refusal and allow the appeal to be heard.
The High Court’s judging panel has now quashed the registrar’s decision and ruled that the case should proceed, meaning the court will consider the state’s appeal.
Ali Anwar is currently being held in custody under a separate order issued by the Criminal Court. He was re-arrested by police after being denied entry to Sri Lanka and returned to the Maldives.
The initial release order was issued by Criminal Court Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad, who later dismissed Ali Anwar without conditions. Faiz was subsequently dismissed from his position after being found to have violated judicial ethics.
