Maldives Police Service said on Sunday that the two foreign workers arrested in connection with the wide-scale sale of alcohol in the Maldives were released and re-arrested due to the administrative arrangements of the judicial system.
Two Bangladeshi men, aged 26 and 27, were arrested on December 29 under a court order for the possession and distribution of alcohol. The police requested to keep the two men in detention as there was a chance they might flee, and also because they believed the men posed a risk to the community.
In the court order, Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad stated that the two men had to be released because the police failed to bring them to court within the required 24 hours of their arrest and had obtained another court order to re-arrested them.
Regarding the issue, a police media official told Mihaaru that they had to release and re-arrest the two men due to the administrative process within the court system, and because the court had not accepted their forms requesting to bring the detainees to court.
While those arrested by the police are required to be produced before the court within 24 hours, the court regulations state that the police will have to submit the forms for those brought for hearings by 9 A.M. every day.
The police official said that the court rejected the initial application following their first arrest because the police had submitted the paperwork two minutes past the deadline.
The police attempted to make other arrangements to schedule a hearing to determine their custody on the same day. They even requested to write to the judge explaining the situation so that they may be able to get a hearing within 24 hours.
Regardless of their efforts, the court decided not to hold a hearing that day. The police, therefore, obtained another court order to arrest them again.
The police noted that there is a high likelihood that the foreigners arrested in such circumstances will leave because their residences are uncertain. They also noted that the sale of alcohol is detrimental to society.
However, when they were brought to court for the hearing, Judge Faiz ruled to release the two detainees. Judge Faiz had stated that the police appeared to have misused the system. He also noted that while the police had obtained a secondary order to arrest them, they were already detained under the initial order.
Judge Faiz's ruling also stated that the police failed to inform the judge who approved the second arrest order the realities of their situation. The ruling stated that this suggested that the police did not intend to bring the arrested men before the court within 24 hours of their remand.
The police official, however, pointed out that the move was necessitated due to administrative lapses imposed by the court itself. He reiterated that even after the first arrest, he was brought to court within 24 hours.
"The law states to bring them to court within 24 hours. A constitutional issue would arise if we failed to do so within that period," the official said.
Though the court orders mentioned that the two men were arrested three times, the police said they obtained court orders for the arrests twice and therefore had arrested them twice as well.
The court orders for their release did not indicate that the hearing could not be held due to an administrative issue when they were initially taken to court. According to the orders, the police did not take them to court for remand after their arrest but re-obtained a court order to keep them under arrest.
The two foreigners, along with others, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the large-scale smuggling of alcohol. The police had collected evidence against them from the scene as well.
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