The Prosecutor General's Office has said that it has entered a plea bargain with the individual whose details were submitted by the Police to press charges against for downloading child pornography.
In a press conference held on March 18, Acting Head of Crime Against Children, Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Sofwath Rauf said that the issue of downloading child pornography in the Maldives was reported to the police last year by foreign monitors of such incidents.
The first case was investigated and sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office in October last year for prosecution of a 32-year-old man, he said then.
A Media Official from the Prosecutor General's Office revealed today that instead of pressing charges against the accused man, the office had entered a plea bargain with him.
The plea bargain has been in effect since November 15, 2023 and is valid for a period of one year, they said.
The office, however, did not offer any explanations as to why this decision was reached.
In the earlier press conference, Police said that a second case of downloading child pornography is also currently under investigation.
Sofwath said then that a policy to be followed during investigations of child exploitation has been drafted in collaboration with the Prosecutor General's Office, which is currently in the process of being finalized. Therefore, he assured, in future, similar cases involving children will be thoroughly investigated, and action will be taken.
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