The charges against Muhuthaz Muhusin, the former prosecutor general, was deliberately made to fit the definition of an act of terror by the President, reliable sources have revealed. 

Three individual sources confirmed to RaajjeMV, under the condition of anonymity, that President Abdulla Yameen had met with senior officials of the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office to have them pursue terror charges against Muhusin.

This was after prosecutors in the case had advised that Muhusin could not be rightfully tried under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Muhusin was sentenced to 17 years in prison after evidence brought forth at the Criminal Court, of conspiring to unlawfully detain an individual and forging a warrant found him guilty.

The full charges claim that Muhusin had forged a document, which only implies that the sitting Prosecutor General had issued a warrant that the Maldives Police Service (MPS) had not officially asked for, and headed a conspiracy to arrest and detain President Abdulla Yameen with the assistance of Magistrate Ahmed Nihan, who had signed the ‘forged’ warrant.

Magistrate Nihan, who sat at the Maamigili Magistrate Court in Alif Dhaal atoll, was also sentenced to 17 years.

Muhusin then appealed this verdict at the High Court, which ruled that the warrant and its ability to incarcerate President Yameen would potentially harm public safety and the sovereignty of the nation, on the grounds that it would keep the head of state from carrying out his constitutionally mandated responsibility.

While the proceedings have already been criticized for being heavily politicized, the sources further said that Muhusin should not have been tried for terrorism for a suspected ‘conspiracy’ that was never seen unfold.