Hearings begin in High Court appeal of alleged drug kingpin Anwar’s release

High Court has begun hearings in the appeal against the release of an alleged drug kingpin, whose release was one of the reasons behind the dismissal of Criminal Court judge Hussain Faiz Rashad.

Hearings have begun in the appeal against the release of Ali Anwar Mohamed, after the appellate court initially dismissed the case. The appeal was first rejected by the High Court’s Assistant Registrar, Sahuna Abdul Samad, when it was submitted. However, the prosecution later refiled the appeal, which was eventually accepted following a decision by the court’s judges.

The appeal is being heard by a three-judge panel.

Anwar has requested the opportunity to appoint a lawyer. However, the judges decided that sufficient time had been provided to appoint a lawyer and as such, denied the request. The judges attributed their decision to the fact that such appeals required the court to reach a verdict within a stipulated period of time.

The appeal process also revealed that the prosecution has already filed charges against Anwar.

Faiz was suspended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) after it launched an inquiry into his decision to free Anwar from police custody. In November, the commission reported that the investigation found Faiz had breached the Constitution and relevant laws when he ordered the suspect’s release. The JSC then moved to dismiss him and submitted its request to Parliament for approval.

The Parliament dismissed Faiz in a 56-8 majority vote on December 3^rd, 2025, after the Judiciary Committee approved his dismissal following review of documents submitted by JSC.

Ali Anwar Mohamed, a native of S. Hithadhoo, was arrested in 2019 in connection with the smuggling of 70 kilos of drugs into Maldives aboard the Iranian vessel Al-Shaban. The ship was intercepted 172 nautical miles northwest of HA. Thuraakunu, leading to the arrest of five Maldivians, six Iranians, and two Bangladeshis. Police named Anwar as one of the three ringleaders of the drug trafficking racket.

Faiz released Anwar after his initial five-day remand expired. He subsequently fled to Sri Lanka, but was re-arrested after being denied entry and deported back to the Maldives.

Faiz had cited procedural violations by the police in ordering Anwar’s release, including the execution of a search warrant after his arrest. The judge also cited that the police failed to recover any evidence from the search.