Assistant Attorney General arrested in late night alcohol raid

Ismail Wisham, the assistant attorney general, and his wife were arrested in a late night raid on Monday, sources have said. Beer cans and hash oil were reportedly discovered on the premises.

A police spokesman said a couple had been arrested under a court warrant at 11:30pm with alcohol and drugs, but refused to reveal their identities. The raid was conducted based on an intelligence report. He declined to comment on the quantity of alcohol and hash oil found at the house.

Wisham’s wife Hana Waheed is a senior prosecutor at the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The couple is being held at the Dhoonidhoo Island Detention Center. They will be presented before a court within 24 hours.

Wisham is the latest government official to be arrested on criminal charges. In January, the police discovered a pistol and three bullets at defence minister Mohamed Nazim’s home in a late night raid.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison on weapons smuggling charges in a trial widely criticised for lack of due process.

Nazim maintains he was framed by rogue police on the orders of then-Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb.

Adeeb, who is now the vice president, denies the allegation.

Nazim’s trial coincided with the terrorism trial of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed. The opposition leader was sentenced to 13 years in jail over the military detention of a judge during his tenure.

The pair’s imprisonment sparked a six-month-long political crisis with daily protests.

The president of the religious conservative Adhaalath Party, Sheikh Imran Abdulla, is also under state custody, awaiting trial on terrorism charges.

MP Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, who heads the Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA), and is a close associate of President Abdulla Yameen was brought to trial for alcohol possession. The resort tycoon was acquitted by the criminal court in December 2014.