A man arrested in connection with an assault case has been released by the Criminal Court after his time in remand exceeded the sentence he would have served if convicted.
Criminal Court Judge Ibrahim Ihusan issued the order for his release, citing that the prosecution had not provided sufficient justification for extending his remand.
The 29-year-old suspect had already spent two months in police custody. The court noted that the Prosecutor General's Office had requested a 15-day extension of his detention but had not clearly specified whether they were seeking to keep him in custody until the end of the trial.
According to the court, the prosecution's approach of requesting extensions every 15 days could lead to a situation where a detainee remains in custody longer than the sentence they would receive.
The court said that such a practice would be unfair.
The suspect had pleaded guilty at the preliminary hearing, and the court determined that his sentence would have been one month and 24 days in prison.