High Court rejects appeal over Sealife MD Ammaty’s release

The High Court has rejected the appeal filed by the state over the decision to release SeaLife Global’s managing director Ahmed Moosa Mohamed (Ammaty), as he stands trial for defrauding over 200 tenants out of millions in booking fees for a proposed apartment complex in suburban Hulhumale’.

Ammaty has been release three times since his arrest last year.

The most recent order to grant him conditional release was issued by the Criminal Court on March 20.

The decision was appealed with the High Court by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

However, the High Court rejected the appeal on Wednesday, citing that it was filed after the window for appeal had already expired.

The law grants 48 hours to appeal court decisions.

PGO insisted the appeal was filed before the 48-hour window expired. The PGO excluded the date on which Ammaty was released in calculating the 48 hours, as it is instructed in the law to exclude the date on which an event happens and ends in calculating the appeal window.

However, the High Court decided that though the law instructs the exclusion of the date on which the event happens and ends, the policy does not extend to calculating the hours.

The court said it therefore decided to reject the appeal because it had been 48 hours since the Criminal Court issued its order.

The PGO has stated it intends to appeal the decision with the Supreme Court.