Criminal Court on Wednesday acquitted Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof on a false reporting charge.
The former South-Galolhu constituency MP was charged with false reporting over a tweet he had sent out in January this year.
In the tweet penned in Dhivehi, Mahloof said “detainees are not dying in Maafushi Prison, they are being killed. They are being killed by not providing them with the necessary medical treatment. When 10 detainees die within a year, it’s a serious issue. Commissioner Shiyan and DOP Salman must take full responsibility. I don’t know how many times I’ve made this complaint while I was jailed.”
His tweet came after the death of inmate Abdulla Rasheed, who was jailed following the May Day protest in 2015.
At a hearing held in June, Mahloof stated that he sent out the tweet to express his ‘outrage’ over Rasheed’s death while in incarceration.
However, state’s public prosecutor falsely claimed- in court- that the tweet was sent prior to Rasheed’s death; Abdulla Rasheed passed away in October 2017.
Following the death of another inmate in June- Ali Abdulla, 30, who had been serving a 25-year sentence on drug trafficking- Mahloof reiterated the same accusation, adding “it is more evident now”.
13th inmate dies in 2 years, the highest per capita of custodial deaths in the world. Yet in a few days Criminal Court will be sentencing me to jail regarding a tweet about medical negligence in jails. I repeat those accusations again, as it’s more evident now. https://t.co/E3sniJSJNh
While RaajjeTV is currently banned from attending court hearings, media reports say that the Criminal Court on Wednesday ruled that the state had failed to provide sufficient evidence against Mahloof.
If he had been found guilty of the charge, the now-minister could have faced a jail sentence of nearly five months.
While Mahloof was also charged with obstruction of justice for distributing masks at an opposition protest in February, to protect protesters from the effects of police’s tear gas, the High Court has ruled that he was arrested unlawfully.
The youth minister was among the many political figures arrested and detained following the protests that erupted following then-President Abdulla Yameen’s refusal to implement Supreme Court’s controversial February 1 ruling; Yameen had instead issued a nation-wide state of emergency that lasted 45 days.
In May 2018, Amnesty International had declared him a “prisoner of conscience”.
Back in 2016, Mahloof was sentenced to a total of 10 months and 24 days, in two separate obstruction charges. He was released from prison in June 2017, after completing the sentence.
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