President indicates regret over commuting Hoara Ibbe’s sentence

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has indicated regret at his decision to commute the sentence of Ibrahim Rasheed (Hoara Ibbe).

Hoara Ibbe, former Undersecretary at the President’s Office and an MDP activist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for engaging in sexual relations with an underage girl on December 1, 2013.

President Solih commuted his sentence on December 4, 2018, and Hoara Ibbe left prison a free man on December 6, 2018.

Speaking in an interview on RaajjeTV’s show, Fashaa Iru, this Wednesday morning, Solih said that he was not one to be overcome with emotion, and that he made all his decisions after sufficient thought and research.

He said that he regretted his decision to order the release of a convict during the first few weeks of his presidency.

“Today, I wish I hadn’t made that decision. I wish I hadn’t made that decision in a hurry. I regret it, to this day,” said Solih, avoiding specifically naming Hoara Ibbe.

“The consequences are far higher to revise a decision after the fact,” he said.

The decision by President Solih to commute the sentence of a convicted child sex offender drew nation-wide backlash, including from his own party, MDP.

Child sex offenders are not eligible for presidential pardon. And President Solih commuted his sentence only halfway into its execution.

Hoara Ibbe was arrested was arrested in a half- undressed state with a 17-year-old girl inside a room at G. Maavas, situated near Olympus Cinema, on the night of December 6, 2012.

The girl, Zuriyya Abdul Shukoor, who is now his wife maintains that sexual relations between her and Hoara Ibbe were consensual and issued a press statement urging the public not to label him a ‘child molester’.

The law does not recognize consent from anyone under the age of 18 years for sex.