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Ali Waheed requests an online trial for criminal charges

Former Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed has requested the Criminal Court of the Maldives for an online trial on the sexual assault and harassment charges pressed against him.

Criminal Court confirmed that Ali Waheed had requested the hearings on his trial to be conducted online so that he can attend them from abroad. However, no decision has been made by the court.

Criminal Court does not normally conduct online hearings for criminal trials. Although a hearing on Ali Waheed’s trial had initially been scheduled for June 10, the hearing was not included in the latest schedule published by the Criminal Court.

The former tourism minister is facing trial on charges of sexually assaulting and harassing some of the female employees in the tourism ministry. He has been charged with two counts of sexual abuse, two counts of unlawful sexual contact, a single count of attempted sexual abuse, indecent exposure and a single count of attempted rape.

Ali Waheed left the country in February this year, citing a need for urgent medical treatment. The Criminal Court had ordered to release Ali Waheed’s passport after allocating a person to be responsible for Ali Waheed’s absence if he fails to appear before court for the trial. As such, Minister of State for Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Assad Ali, who is a close accomplice of Ali Waheed, was allocated as the person responsible for bringing Ali Waheed back to the country for the trial. As Ali Waheed has failed to appear in court by the given deadline, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has requested the Criminal Court to take action against Assad Ali, who claims he does not know the whereabouts of Ali Waheed.