Addict asks judge to keep him detained ‘for as long as possible’

A suspected mugger asked a Criminal Court judge on Friday to keep him detained in jail for as long as possible.

The 60-year-old man, suspected of stealing a mobile phone from someone near a public park, was presented before a judge for his remand hearing on Friday.

According to court documents, the man confessed to stealing the phone.

He also confessed to the judge that he was a drug addict, and had been disowned by his family due to his drug addiction, and his decision to resort to theft and robbery to feed the habit.

He asked the judge to issue the longest possible detention order.

The judge remanded him to 30 days in a custodial jail.

Maldives is battling a huge drug crisis, giving rise to a myriad of social issues.

In 2021, the commissioner of prisons, Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu said that at least 70 percent inmates at Maldivian prisons are drug offenders.