Man who threatened to kill Nasheed sentenced to 10 years in prison

A man who issued death threats against former President Mohamed Nasheed has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Ahmed Shafee'u, Media Official for the Prosecutor General's (PG) Office, stated that three charges were filed against Ismail Yaafis, H. Lightnight, for threatening to attack and kill Nasheed on various social media platforms, during police investigations, and in court.

The charges filed against Yaafis, related to the threats made four years ago, were:

1.      Supporting a terrorist organization.

2.      Threatening to commit an act of terrorism.

3.      Inciting an act of terrorism.

The original cumulative sentence for these charges was 26 years in prison. However, under a plea agreement made with the State, Yaafis confessed to the crimes, and the State agreed to reduce his sentence to a 10-year prison term.

Consequently, the PG Office confirmed that the Criminal Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison this past Wednesday. The breakdown of the sentence, according to the PG, is:

Yaafis was arrested in August 2021 in R. Meedhoo for a Facebook comment threatening to harm Nasheed, who was in Germany recovering from an assassination attempt. Following his arrest, he faced a remand hearing at the R. Ungoofaaru Magistrate Court, where he received an additional 15 days jail time for contempt.

Previously, the Criminal Court had also sentenced Yaafis to one month in prison for threats made against Nasheed during another related court hearing.