All but one of the defendants in a terrorism case involving an alleged ISIS-supporting extremist cell that operated in Th. Thimarafushi have been released from prison.
The Criminal Court found three of the seven charges brought in the case proven.
For supporting a terrorist organisation, the court sentenced Abdulla Imaadh and Ali Arham Mohamed to three years in prison, while Ali Muneez was sentenced to one year, nine months and one day.
Ali Arham Mohamed was also sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to travel abroad to participate in fighting.
In a separate charge of obstructing the administration of justice, Abdulla Imaadh and Ibrahim Looth were each sentenced to one year, seven months and six days in prison.
However, after deducting the time already spent in detention, Abdulla Imaadh, Ali Muneez and Ibrahim Looth had no remaining sentence to serve and were therefore released.
As a result, Ali Arham Mohamed is the only defendant who remains subject to imprisonment in the case.
The court acquitted the defendants of several other allegations, including planning a terrorist act, providing encouragement and training for terrorism, and being members of a terrorist organisation. The court raised concerns about the integrity of data extracted from a mobile phone submitted as evidence in the case.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said it will decide whether to appeal the charges that were not proven after receiving the court’s report on the case.
