Serial mosque vandal released upon conviction after pretrial detention outlasts prison term

A young man arrested for repeatedly vandalizing mosques in the greater Male’ area was released upon conviction on Sunday after his pretrial detention outlasted his prison sentence.

Naushad Moosa, 32, G. Male’ Hiyaa, was arrested on September 11 on allegations of vandalizing mosques. He was initially remanded in police custody for 15 days, but was ordered to jail pending the outcome of his trial when presented before the Criminal Court for an extension of his remand on September 25.

The Criminal Court found him guilty of the charge on Sunday, and sentenced him to one month and 12 days in prison.

However, he had already spent one month and 21 days in jail during the trial – well beyond his prison term.

The court therefore considered it as time served.

Naushad had also been arrested back in 2024 on suspicion of desecrating copies of the Holy Quran and vandalizing the Masjid al-Furqan in Male’ City.