Members of the Parole Board have been dismissed over the issue of granting unlawful parole and releasing Abdulla Ibrahim (Abucha), whom police suspect to be among the most prominent individuals importing and trafficking drugs into Addu City.
While there are nine members on the Parole Board comprising representatives from various institutions, Home Minister Ali Ihusaan stated today that all of those members have been dismissed.
Speaking at a press conference held at the President's Office, Minister Ihusaan stated that the unlawfully granted parole to Ibrahim has been revoked, and he has now been taken back to prison.
Minister Ihusaan stated that while three sentences of 12 years and six months have been imposed on Ibrahim, he is eligible to apply for parole upon completing six years and three months. The minister stated that the Parole Board did not act in accordance with the law when calculating that period.
When Ibrahim was sentenced, the approximately four years he had spent in remand custody during the trial were deducted from his prison sentence. The Parole Board therefore considered eight years as the period he was required to serve when assessing his eligibility for parole.
Ibrahim has spent a total of five years and 11 months in custody in connection with the case.
The minister stated that granting parole to drug traffickers is also contrary to government policies.
However, the minister stated that he does not believe this decision was made by the Parole Board members intentionally with ill intent, and that the members were not dismissed for being found guilty.
The government has taken these steps following media reports on the release of Ibrahim on the first of this month and the public criticism directed at the matter.
Ibrahim, who was sentenced to a 25-year term considered as a life sentence in connection with two charges, was sentenced in May of last year. However, he was detained under suspicion of the crime in October 2020. Therefore, it has been six years since he spent time in prison custody.
According to the parole law, except for three types of drug offenses, individuals imprisoned for other crimes will have the opportunity for parole upon serving one-third of the longest sentence imposed on them.
Serving at least half of the longest sentence imposed is required when the drug involved in an offence is diamorphine exceeding four grams; cannabis, a cannabis mixture or cannabis resin exceeding 14 grams; or any other type of drug exceeding one gram.
However, with the change now brought to the Narcotic Drugs Act, individuals who import and traffic drugs after that change will not be given the opportunity for parole.
