Former Maldives Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed, who fled abroad following sexual harassment and rape allegations have not been extradited back to home country despite several attempts in the prior.
State pressed a total of seven different charges against Waheed, while a successful conviction of the alleged perpetrations will mean at least 21 years of jail time for the former minister.
Despite the Maldivian government's several efforts, the extradition of the embittered former minister still remains fruitless while the country's apex court had sentenced him to jail - but this too, was met with inaction over his sudden absconding.
While local agencies ran to dead-ends, the Criminal Court of the island nation back on 29th November 2021, had once again ordered for the summoning of the former minister.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the local police are attempting to extradite Waheed to comply with the court's orders.
Speaking to the local news channel "Mihaaru" the media spokesperson of the Maldives Police Service notified that the authority was currently collaborating with foreign agencies that could be of help to ensure Waheed will be extradited.
Although local police affirm that they have shared the information with relevant international counterparts, it is unsure if the authority sought the assistance of Interpol for the means of issuing out a Red Notice - this is further evidenced from the lack of any notices pertaining to Waheed appearing on Interpol's website so far.
While it is almost a year or more into the efforts of trying to extradite Waheed back to his home country in order to try him at the court of law, many have since then become skeptical if the attempts will ever see success.]
Legal commentators and judicial reviewers are the first in line of academic critics who are cautious and dubious about the possibility of local authorities finding success in their feat.
Many legal advocates and experts, almost unanimously agree that the authorities have not been able to discover a dragnet for their efforts - in fact, authorities are still behind in observing any surmounting achievement.
One legal critic had pointed out the lack of any official agreement between the Maldives and the United Kingdom - where Waheed had fled to - which would hinder any room for local authorities seeking the assistance of UK police. In fact, it is legally an inviable option.
The commentator had further addressed the international practice of extradition, noting that it will not be possible for countries that had not entered such agreements - meaning currently, the Maldives and UK do not have such a bilateral arrangement.
"They can communicate with every single agency and they can share information with all of them, but that will not ensure extradition," the advocate commented.
Despite being critical about the efforts of the local authorities, the legal advocate did, however, point out to the advantage of issuing out a Red Notice stating that such a move would restrict the movement of Waheed by barring him from entering into other countries.
He also claimed that, had local authorities in fact requested for a Red Notice it would have been complied with already.
Meanwhile, an anonymous source with intimate information about the situation commented that Waheed has sought asylum from the UK government, which is generally a two-year process.
The fact of the matter is that unless Waheed willingly does not fly back home, the local authorities have their hands tied with the current circumstances.
Meanwhile, Waheed's surety, the State Minister of Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Ashad "Adubarey" Ali received a jail sentence amid the ongoing woes. Ali was abroad at the time of the sentencing hearing, which was done in his absentia.
To add insult to injury, local authorities currently do not have any credible information of Ali's whereabouts either though sources outside of the local authorities' entourage claim that he is currently residing in the UK.
Waheed's arrest has been formally lodged by Maldives Correctional Service at the local police department. However, each new attempt to bring the alleged former minister is faced with defeat.
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