Million dollar drug smuggling Lankan suspect released before trial

Sri Lankan citizen Sameen Ummul Fahumiyya, 56, arrested in March in connection with a drug bust worth over US $1 million, has returned to Sri Lanka after being released before her trial, police have confirmed.

A judge authorised the release of the suspected drug dealer on June 18 because there was "nowhere to detain her," and her passport was then returned to her along with the rest of her belongings.

Human rights lawyer Husnu Suood described her release as "wrong".

It is the second time in a month a judge has authorised that suspects in a serious criminal case be released from police custody.

Three prime suspects in the December murder of Ali Ishar, 21, were downgraded to house arrest in June.

Fahumiyya's trial for drug dealing - which carries a 25-year sentence in the Maldives - was due to start on July 17. But she failed to appear, with her lawyer Abdullah Shaairu saying she had left the country.

Police confirmed Fahumiyya had been released after a judge ruled against extending her detention on June 18, on the basis there was nowhere to keep her.

For a suspect to be kept in police custody after seven days, a judge must authorise the extension.

Drug traffickers and those who "may run away" are among the categories of detainee who can be held beyond seven days. Fahumiyya and Mohamed Wasood Mohamed Bisthaami, 38, were caught on March 13 after bags of heroin were discovered in false compartments in their luggage as they entered the Maldives at Mal‚ International Airport.

Police also arrested a Maldivian man, Abdul Waheed, shortly afterwards in connection with the incident. Bisthaami and Waheed have not been released.

Prominent human rights lawyer and Seenu (Addu) atoll MP Husnu Suood spoke out against the move, saying: "She was aiding in the trafficking of drugs...The judgment is wrong. There is evidence against her."

He added: "If there was no place for her detention, why were the others able to be detained?"

Director general at the Attorney General's office Hussein Shameem told Haveeru the passports of suspects in drug trafficking cases would usually be confiscated.

Police have also faced criticism for the release from police custody of three prime suspects in the December gang-related murder of Ali Ishar, 21.

Prime suspects Hussein Razeen (Rabarey), Shifaullah Abdul Waheed (Shifa) and Mohamed Ahusan (Ahu) were downgraded to house arrest in June, a move condemned by Ishar's family.

The two Sri Lankans were travelling from Colombo, to Mal‚ when they were caught on March 13. But police say they believe the narcotics originated in Pakistan.

Their passports showed they had recently travelled from Colombo to Islamabad, in Pakistan, and then back to Colombo via Dubai.

The Maldives Customs Service said the four kilograms seized was the largest amount of narcotics they ever intercepted in a single haul, though 13.8 kilograms of heroin were found in a Mal‚ apartment in March.

Haveeru