PG withdraws failure to provide urine charges against former MP

The prosecutor general has withdrawn two charges of failure to provide urine against former Maldivian Democratic Party MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

Charges were being pressed in relation to an incident on the uninhabited island of Hondaidhoo in November 2012 as well as an MDP protest in July of the same year.

Hamid’s subsequent refusal to attend the Criminal Court – citing parliamentary privileges while seeking refuge in the grounds of the People’s Majlis – resulted in a six months sentence being issued in October 2013.

Shortly after leaving the Majlis, having been promised house arrest by President Abdulla Yameen, Hamid was taken to jail before the High Court overturned the Criminal Court’s original sentence.

Both Hamid and Jabir’s separate alcohol possession charges have since been cleared by the Criminal Court.

Hamid announced last month that he is seeking MVR4.2 million (US$270,967) in compensation for the “illegal” jail sentence.

Fellow MDP MP Abdulla Jabir was also arrested on Hondaidhoo, and was sentenced to a year in jail in February for refusal to provide urine before Yameen pardoned him in July.