Criminal Court decides that police incarceration of Ghassan Maumoon was illegal

Criminal Court of the Maldives has decided moments ago that Ghassan Maumoon, the son of former President Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom, was incarcerated by the Maldives Police Services this morning illegally. The Criminal Court thus ordered the Maldives Police Services to immediately release him from custody.

Following the court decision, Ghassan Maumoon went home to MA. Enderimaage, his family home, together with his lawyers and supporters.

As the Criminal Court conducted a sitting to look into an application by Ghassan’s attorneys requesting the court to declare the incarceration unlawful, supporters of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party and supporters of Maumoon’s Progressive Party of the Maldives gathered around the Justice Building, which houses the Criminal Court, resulting in chaos in the area.

Immediately after Ghassan Maumoon was taken into police custody and put in detention at Dhoonidhoo, his lawyers filed the case at the Criminal Court, which ordered the Maldives Police Services to bring Ghassan to the court before 4 pm today. The Police brought Ghassan to the court at 4 pm, and by then a large crowd of his supporters were gathered before the Criminal Court, sporting banners calling for him to be immediately set free.

In court, the police stated that Ghassan was arrested based on ample evidence suggesting that it was he who threw a piece of log on a crowd of MDP supporters who had gathered before Ghassan's family residence at Endherimaage last Thursday. According to the police, the log injured one of the people in the crowd, who had since been admitted at the hospital.

Maumoon Hameed, Aishath Azima Shukoor and Mohamed Waheed, representing Ghassam, denied the allegation and presented video clips and pictures showing someone else handling a piece of log in the crowd. Ghassan’s attorneys also noted that the Police had not arrested or even questioned that person.

Ruling Maldivian Democratic Party’s activists gathered around the Supreme Court last Thursday, after the Supreme Court scheduled a hearing into a case against one of the party leaders and following a resolution by the Party Council to go on protest against the Maldivian Judiciary. Immediately after the Supreme Court hearing was over for the day, MDP activists went towards Endherimaage, private residence of former President Maumoon and his family, and attacked and vandalized the property. While some have reported that stones and pieces of wood were returned back at the vandalizing crowd from the upper floors of Endherimaage after the crowed attacked the house with wood and stone and caused damage, others have reported that stones and logs were thrown at the crowd from nearby buildings and not Endherimaage.