A Sri Lankan national who had already served a one-year prison sentence in the Maldives for allegedly smuggling more than two kilograms of gold has been acquitted by the Maldives High Court.
According to Maldivian media, the High Court overturned the conviction on October 28, 2026, exactly one year after the Criminal Court sentenced the Sri Lankan national, identified as Mohamed Sulaimhan, to one year in prison on October 28, 2025.
The case dates back to September 21, 2023, when the Sri Lankan national arrived at Velana International Airport in the Maldives on an Emirates flight via Dubai.
Customs officers stopped him while he was attempting to exit through the Green Channel and discovered 2,282 grams of gold paste concealed in the pockets of his jeans and inside his underwear.
He was subsequently charged with smuggling goods under Section 97(a) of the Maldives Customs Act and sentenced to one year in prison.
However, the High Court unanimously ruled that the charges did not meet the legal requirements to establish the offence of smuggling.
The court noted that the prosecution had acknowledged that the gold was neither a prohibited item nor subject to customs duty.
Rejecting the State’s argument that undeclared gold could be considered an unauthorised commodity, the High Court ruled that conduct cannot be criminalised unless it is explicitly defined as an offence under the law.
The court further determined that the Criminal Court’s conviction violated constitutional provisions and accordingly overturned the conviction.
The ruling was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Judges Mohamed Shaneez, Hussain Mazeed and Huzaifa Mohamed.
The acquittal came after the Sri Lankan national had already completed the entire prison sentence imposed by the lower court. (Newswire)