1988 attack mastermind Luthfee confesses to fleeing, asks for minimum sentence

Abdulla Luthfee – the mastermind behind the foiled terror attack of November 3, 1988 – has confessed to fleeing custody after he was granted medical furlough.

Luthfee was serving a life sentence for his role in the 1988 attack when he was issued a one-year travel document to travel to India for medical treatment at his own expense by the Home Ministry on January 16, 2010. He went on the run after he was granted furlough, remaining at large for nearly a decade, before surrendering himself to officials at the Maldivian embassy in Colombo on May 1, 2019 amid security sweeps in Sri Lanka following the Easter bombings.

He has been charged with fleeing a detention facility.

Responding to the charge against him during a hearing at the Criminal Court on Wednesday morning, Luthfee said he traveled overseas after obtaining necessary permission from relevant authorities, and therefore does not believe he fled from a detention facility.

He said that he however wishes to expedite the case and finish serving his sentence, and therefore wishes to plead guilty to the charge.

He also asked the court for the minimum sentence.

The Criminal Court judge accepted Luthfee’s guilty plea and announced the sentencing hearing will be held within five days.

Fleeing a detention facility is a Class 5 felony punishable with nine months and 18 days in prison. However, pleading guilty to the charge will reduce the sentence to seven months and six days in prison.

The foiled attack of November 3, 1988 with armed mercenaries from Tamil secessionist organization People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) to overthrow former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration killed 19 Maldivian citizens - eight officers and 11 civilians - and left scores more injured.

Luthfee was originally issued the death penalty for the crime but his sentence was later commuted to a life sentence (25 years) by Maumoon. He has approximately three years left of the sentence.