Hishan not charged due to expired statute of limitations, not lack of evidence: PG

Today, the Prosecutor General's (PG) Office has stated that Ahmed Hishan, an individual who became well-known through social work but was later accused of sexually abusing children, including disabled children, was not charged not because of a lack of evidence, but because the statute of limitations had expired.

A PG Office media official has stated that Police had sent the case to them in 2020 for charges to be served after they had conducted their investigation. The official also stated that upon reviewing the evidence, there was enough to charge Hishan. However, due to the statute of limitations expiring, the charges were not served, as per the media official.

The media official also stated that the case regarding the accusation did not move forward due to the incidents having occurred more than 8 years ago.

As per the Maldives Criminal Procedure Act, charges can only be filed for a case within 8 years of the incident occurring. When this issue had come to light, the children who accused Hishan of sexually abusing them had turned 18 years of age.

"The charges weren't filed due to the statute of limitations expiring. We had enough evidence [to charge him]," said the media official.

The media official also stated that due to Hishan not being charged, the victims had been granted the opportunity to submit their cases that year. However, the media official said that they had not received any reports within that time frame.

Hishan has denied the accusations and said that only two questions were posed to him regarding the child sexual abuse allegations. This was about statements on social media at the time and whether he had sexually abused any children.

He said that no other questions were asked of him.

"The investigation is over. The accused should also know who it is that they have sexually abused. Even HRCM released a big report saying it is unclear who the victim is," said Hishan.

Hishan claims that no one will come out after 20 years to accuse of sexual abuse of a child. He also highlighted that the document provided by Police also stated that no reports of such an incident was received during the statute of limitations. 

Hishan, who has also received a national award in his field, was first accused of sexually abusing disabled children in 2020. Some individuals shared experiences on social media, with some giving statements as well.

When the details were brought to light, Hishan was stripped of his Disability Ambassadorship from the HRCM, with his passport being seized as well. Once he had gotten his passport back, he went on to move to Turkey and has established himself there. Five years after that, Hishan returned to Maldives last month. He has stated that he was unfairly accused and investigated, and raised strong allegations against some individuals.