Foreigner acquitted of resort crash deaths flees Maldives after prosecutors seek to withhold passport
19 Sep 2013, 11:59 PM
Neil Merrett
A Swedish national acquitted this month of causing a quad bike crash that killed two British tourists has fled the Maldives, even as state prosecutors urgently sought to withhold his passport ahead of a possible appeal.
Filip Eugen Petre was acquitted on September 5 by the Criminal Court of all charges relating to his alleged role in a quad bike accident that resulted in the deaths of British couple Emma and Johnathon Gray at Kuredu Island Resort in August 2011.
According to a leaked communique drafted by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) and later obtained by Minivan News, the Maldives Police Service – under a court order – returned the passport of the accused in the early hours of September 7.
Just hours earlier, the PGO had sought to file an “urgent appeal” against the decision after concerns that a “serious miscarriage of justice” could occur if the accused was allowed to leave the country without a final decision on whether to appeal his case.
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