Arrest and Deport Rapist & Sex Offender Ali Waheed from UK.

This petition is a request to Her Majesty's Government – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to arrest and deport former Tourism Minister of Maldives, Ali Waheed, from the UK immediately.

There are multiple sexual assault and misconduct allegations made against the former Tourism Minister of Maldives, Ali Waheed, by female employees of Tourism Ministry in the midst of the pandemic in 2020. These victims shared their stories with the President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, directly (the President is the most powerful position in our Presidential Republic as the President is both the Head of State and also the Head of the Government). These accusations include groping, showing his genitalia and attempted “rape” too. One of these incidents forced one of the employees to "jump off a water villa" on a resort island according to the witness statements.

Ali Waheed was sacked over these allegations after much pressure from the public last year. He responded to these allegations with “this too shall pass”.

This is not the first time such allegations and stories have surfaced against Ali Waheed. There was a major leak of audio recordings (six clips) of phone calls of Ali Waheed, one of which he made to Transport Minister Aishath Nahula and compared his manhood to an “antenna” to describe his erection, and made inappropriate comments to the Transport Minister. The Transport Minister made a request to the President to investigate Ali Waheed but this was never investigated.

Going back to his “this too shall pass”, it is important to note that there are reports that say that Ali Waheed has evidence which might incriminate many politicians who currently hold positions within the current administration, and that this was the reason why he was allowed to leave the country for “medical” reasons. After arriving in the UK, Ali Waheed even visited the Maldiviain Embassy in London on multiple occasions and travelled in Embassy car and stayed in one of the diplomat’s residences too. However, him travelling in Embassy car and staying in one of the diplomat’s residences are not yet verified.

The Supreme Court (highest court in Maldives) ruled that he cannot be tried at court in absentia, and on 15 July 2021, the Supreme Court Summoned Ali Waheed. These are the charges against him (source: TimesofAddu).

- One count of sexual abuse under article 16 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)

- One count of attempted rape under article 15 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)

- One count of indecent exposure under article 132 of The Constitution of Maldives

- One count of sexual harassment under article 18 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)

- One count of attempted sexual abuse under article 19 of the Sexual Offences Act (17/2014)

- Two counts of unlawful sexual contact under article 81 and 412 of Maldives Penal Code 9/2014.

If found guilty, he will be sentenced for up to 21 years in prison. However, none of these trials will take place unless and until he returns back to Maldives.

It is highly likely Ali Waheed might choose to permanently reside in the UK and avoid these trials. Ali Waheed was previously granted political asylum in the UK under 1952 Geneva Convention back in 2015/16.

Therefore, we request Her Majesty's Government to cancel his visa, arrest him and deport Ali Waheed back to Maldives as soon as possible. We consider every single day that passes by without the UK government taking any action against him as "harbouring a rapist in UK".