High Court overrules prison sentence for former Nolhivaram chief

High Court has overruled a prison sentence against former island chief of Haa Dhaalu Nolhivaram Ali Rasheed Hussain convicted of embezzling State finances.

In 2012, Nolhivaram Magistrate Court sentenced Ali Rasheed to two years and six months in prisons for having personally seized MVR 3,600. The money, collected for processing national identification cards, was given to Ali Rasheed to be handed over to the atoll office. The incident happened in 2010.

Invalidating the sentence on Wednesday, High Court ruled that the Nolhivaram Magistrate Court had refused to seek the paperwork that Ali Rasheed had requested during the trial.

It also stated that the court minutes proves that, while the constitution grants every accused the rights examine the witnesses against him, the Nolhivaram Magistrate Court had denied the right to Ali Rasheed. The sentence was annulled with unanimous vote of the presiding bench.