PG office charges Thinadhoo mayor Saud over population records
Police subsequently forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which received it on 19 August.
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The Prosecutor General’s Office on Tuesday filed two criminal charges against Thinadhoo Mayor Saud Ali over allegations that population records submitted as part of efforts to obtain city status for the island contained false information.
The charges follow a police investigation into population information submitted when Saud served as President of the Thinadhoo Island Council.
During the investigation, Saud was questioned by police, while the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) searched the council office and seized documents related to the case.
Police subsequently forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which received it on 19 August.
According to information published by the PG Office on Tuesday, Saud has been charged with knowingly providing a fraudulent document and providing false information to a state authority.
The first charge relates to an official letter signed by Saud and sent to the Local Government Authority (LGA) while he was President of the Thinadhoo Island Council.
Prosecutors allege that population lists submitted with the letter included people who had died as well as information that had not been verified.
According to the PG Office, the LGA later requested the council to submit a verified population list containing national identity card numbers. Prosecutors allege that the revised list included people registered to other islands as well as duplicate entries.
The basic sentence prescribed for the charge of knowingly providing a fraudulent document is one year, seven months and six days in prison.
The second charge concerns information Saud allegedly provided to police during the investigation.
According to prosecutors, police requested copies of the population lists submitted to the LGA under Saud’s signature, but the documents were not provided.
The PG Office alleges that Saud subsequently informed police by fax that there was no official record of a population list being submitted to a state authority for the purpose of obtaining city status.
He has been charged with providing false information to a state authority over the allegation. The basic sentence prescribed for the offence is four months and 24 days in prison.
The two charges carry combined basic sentences of two years if calculated consecutively, before any adjustments that may apply under sentencing rules. The filing of charges does not constitute a finding of guilt, and Saud is entitled to contest the allegations before the court.
Thinadhoo was granted city status on 31 August 2023 by then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) campaign rally on the island.
At the time, Department of National Registration records listed Thinadhoo’s registered population at 7,906, below the 10,000 population threshold applicable to city designation.
Figures later published by the Elections Commission for the 20th parliamentary constituencies listed Thinadhoo’s population at 10,150, comprising 5,076 people in Thinadhoo North and 5,074 in Thinadhoo South.
The difference between the population figures prompted questions over the records used in granting city status.
A separate case seeking to revoke Thinadhoo’s city status on the grounds that its population was below the required threshold was previously dismissed by the High Court.
