High court has ruled the former Thulusdhoo MP Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim was wrongfully arrested and detained for entering the parliament.
Several members of the opposition were also arrested along with Waheed in the incident during the previous administration. They group were arrested for entering parliament grounds after the Elections Commission had decided that the members lost their parliament seats based on a Supreme Court ruling.
Waheed was arrested and a 15-day remand issued by the Criminal Court was appealed at the High Court. In their verdict, the High Court said under the Parliamentary Privileges Act, a lawmaker may only be arrested with an arrest warrant obtained from the Prosecutor General. However, the arrest warrant did not come from the Prosecutor General in Waheed's case, deeming the arrest as unlawful.
The High Court verdict further said a lawmaker will lose their seat in the parliament only if the Supreme Court decides so. While Election Commission's decision that Waheed lost his seat was appealed by Waheed at the Supreme Court at the time, it was against the Privileges Act not to seek the Prosecutor General's opinion on arresting him, it said.
