Ex-judge gets 15 years for drug possession
Ibrahim Rasheed denied the drug charges and told the court that it was done by the island police to frame him.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Former Thinadhoo Magistrate Court Judge Ibrahim Rasheed has been sentenced to 15 years in jail and fined MVR 25,000 for dealing in diamorphine.
Ibrahim Rasheed, G.Dh. Thinadhoo/Gaakureli, was charged with dealing in diamorphine on August 15, 2017. According to the lawsuit:
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He was in possession of drugs, on May 28, 2016, at 12:49pm
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He threw a rubber packet that was in his hand when police stopped him on his way to his motorcycle; the packet contained 0.0123 diamorphine
Ibrahim Rasheed, 46, who was then a judge, was suspended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) following his arrest in the case. He was removed from office by the parliament in June 2019. It was following a case of allegedly addressing a woman using improper and obscene language.
Ibrahim Rasheed denied the drug charges and told the court that it was done by the island police to frame him.
The verdict, delivered in the presence of Ibrahim Rasheed, stated that although Ibrahim Rasheed had denied the charges, the evidence presented by the state in the case proved the charges.
The basic penalty for the offence of dealing in Diamorphine is 15 years imprisonment, with a fine ranging from MVR 25,000 to MVR 500,000.
After the sentencing, when given the opportunity to speak about the sentence, Ibrahim Rasheed asked for a lighter sentence or drug court treatment.
However, Judge Aminath Azlifa sentenced him to 15 years in jail and fined him MVR 25,000. The judge noted that Ibrahim Rasheed has no drug record and this is the first such sentence he has been handed down.
The judge ordered the fine to be paid to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) within six months.
Ibrahim Rasheed was in custody for only one day when he was arrested in the case. He will have to serve 14 years, 11 months and 29 days in jail.
