Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem has stated Maldives Police Service (MPS) does not have the right to jail suspects for investigations.
The PG made the remarks in a blog post after some questioned why Parliamentarian Ahmed Easa has not been arrested after he was accused of domestic violence. In his blog post, Shameem detailed the differences between the prior and current laws of the criminal justice system. He said the previous constitution allowed MPS to remand anyone accused of a crime for seven days and an investigative committee appointed by the president can extend the remand for 15 days, for a total of 23 days. Afterwards, PG Shameem said the police can request a judge to extend the remand for 30 more days, and then hold the person in jail until the end of the investigation.
Shameem said his research has shown that, under the previous constitution, remand hearings were conducted without the defendants present and that judges had never hesitated to jail anyone. He added that those arrested under the previous constitution did not have the right to appeal a remand sentence.
Highlighting the changes brought to the criminal justice system after the ratification of the new constitution in 2008, PG Shameem said MPS has to bring all suspects before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest, to seek a remand sentence under the current constitution. He also said defendants have the right to defend themselves during the remand hearing, file a writ of habeas corpus over unlawful imprisonment, and to appeal at three levels of the court system.
The PG said MPS does not have the right to keep suspects in jail for the duration of the investigation and the current laws of the criminal justice system were implemented to protect the rights of the accused under the current constitution.