Two arrested in drug trafficking and money laundering case released

High Court has ordered the release of two people who were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering in Fuvahmulah.

In a major anti-drug operation conducted by police in Fuvahmulah on the December 9, they arrested Ahmed Niushad, 34, and Hassan Azim, 29, both residents of the island.

While others were also arrested with them, police suspect these two individuals of playing leading roles in the operation.

Police have previously said that their investigation revealed that over the past five years, more than MVR 21 million in transactions had been conducted through Niushad's bank account. Police said that through Azim's bank account, transactions worth more than MVR 7 million were conducted over two years.

In connection with this case, the Fuvahmulah Magistrate Court had ordered their detention until the end of the trial.

However, when the case was appealed to the High Court, the court's ruling stated that the judge had based the detention until trial on Article 60 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This article determines whether a person detained on criminal suspicion is being held legally and decides whether to continue their detention.

The ruling stated that the first thing a judge must consider is whether there is evidence supporting that the person committed the suspected crime, and if evidence exists, examine its proportion in two situations described in the article. These are: having evidence to the level of suspicion and having some level of evidence even if there isn't sufficient evidence at the time to suspect the crime was committed.

However, in Azim's order, after stating there was sufficient evidence, it was noted in two other places that there was "some level of evidence" for suspicion. In Niushad's order, while stating there was "some level of evidence" for suspicion, the judge considered it as having evidence to the level of suspicion.

High Court said that after stating there was some level of evidence for suspicion, as the state also agrees, the decision to detain the two until the end of the trial was contrary to Article 60 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In the appeal, the state argued for the lower court's error to be determined as a procedural flaw that wouldn't affect the detention order. However, the High Court said the state failed to show any legal basis for such a determination, and this was due to the lower court's error.

For these reasons, the High Court decided to nullify the Fuvahmulah Court's order to detain Niushad and Azim until the end of the trial.