Feydhoo Resident Sentenced to 6 Months for Unpaid Phone Snatching Fine

The South Feydhoo Magistrate Court has sentenced a resident of Feydhoo, Addu City, to six months and 27 days in prison for failing to pay a fine of MVR 41,400 that was set instead of a jail sentence in a case involving the snatching of a mobile phone. In this case, the court ordered the enforcement of the jail sentence against Hassan Saeed, residing at Miuzigey, South Feydhoo. Under Article 210 of the Penal Code of Maldives, Hassan Saeed was found guilty of exercising control over someone else's property without permission, and initially, he was sentenced to six months and 27 days in jail. However, upon request to mitigate the punishment considering his family circumstances, the court converted this sentence into a fine of MVR 41,400 under Article 1005 of the Penal Code (Table for Conversion of Punishments). This amounted to a total jail term of 207 days, calculated at MVR 200 per day. According to the subsequent order issued by the court, Hassan Saeed did not pay the fine within the time limit given for payment. Under the Criminal Procedure Rules and the principles governing sentencing in Sharia law, if the fine is not paid within the specified period, the original jail sentence is reinstated. Consequently, the previous fine sentence was annulled, and Hassan Saeed has been sentenced to imprisonment for six months and 27 days. Although fines are often imposed instead of jail sentences for minor offenses, courts are now issuing orders to convert the punishment back to jail detention for individuals who fail to pay the imposed amounts within the stipulated time.